Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Down 6% – What’s Next?

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) fell 6% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $150.75 and last traded at $152.7380. 4,016,425 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 8,378,265 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WDC. Barclays boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $105.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $125.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $180.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.74.

Western Digital Trading Down 3.9%

The firm has a market cap of $53.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.81. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.63. 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,265,422.23. This represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total transaction of $1,051,930.26. Following the transaction, the insider directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 51,565 shares of company stock worth $5,558,681 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,538 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares during the period. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 45.1% during the third quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 33,428 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $4,013,000 after buying an additional 10,388 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 13.2% in the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 278,517 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $32,513,000 after buying an additional 32,499 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 85.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 14,364 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,725,000 after acquiring an additional 6,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,574,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.