Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 9.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 86,500 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 9,292 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in Western Digital by 130.0% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 2,842,822 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in 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 worth $136,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,481 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,897,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,406,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $22,849,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Up 8.4%

Shares of WDC opened at $150.93 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $132.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.25. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $178.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $51.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.81.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total value of $3,013,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 645,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,265,422.23. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total value of $1,024,159.47. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 151,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,687,602.84. The trade was a 6.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,696 shares of company stock valued at $4,066,517. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Western Digital from $125.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.16.

Western Digital 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.