Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd Increases Holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd lifted its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 82.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,140 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,140 shares during the period. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 52.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,838 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,166,000 after buying an additional 9,974 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $35,406,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Western Digital by 5.1% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 144,307 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,834,000 after buying an additional 6,947 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Western Digital by 6.8% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 89,244 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,608,000 after buying an additional 5,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 1.6% in the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 242,349 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $9,798,000 after buying an additional 3,920 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total transaction of $94,887.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $74.64 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $65.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.10. The company has a market cap of $26.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $78.80.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities reduced their price target on Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen upped their price target on Western Digital from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush upped their price target on Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen started coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.74.

About Western Digital

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.