Wedbush Securities Inc. Decreases Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Wedbush Securities Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,307 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 553 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 130.0% in the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $203,337,000 after purchasing an additional 2,842,822 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 107.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $136,222,000 after buying an additional 1,742,481 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $50,897,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $35,406,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth $22,849,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.4%

Western Digital stock opened at $162.96 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $118.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.13. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $167.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.64, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%.The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 7.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total value of $1,051,930.26. Following the sale, the insider owned 135,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,121,547.78. The trade was a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total transaction of $3,013,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,265,422.23. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 69,730 shares of company stock worth $6,935,394 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on WDC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Western Digital from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays upped their target price on Western Digital from $105.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Western Digital from $90.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Western Digital from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.47.

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.