Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Holdings Decreased by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc decreased its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 46.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,017 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 1,783 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $82,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 48.3% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 7,209 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348 shares during the period. Kintayl Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Kintayl Capital LP now owns 221,126 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $8,940,000 after buying an additional 44,935 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 125,880 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,089,000 after buying an additional 25,124 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 242.2% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. raised its stake in Western Digital by 3.2% during the first quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. now owns 82,941 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Benchmark upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Mizuho cut their target price on Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $76.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.74.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $548,354.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total transaction of $94,887.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $71.43 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $61.11 and a 200-day moving average of $53.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $24.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 1.54. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $71.81.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a return on equity of 20.58% and a net margin of 13.33%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.58%.

Western Digital declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.