KBC Group NV Grows Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 166.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 597,009 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 373,199 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.17% of Western Digital worth $102,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Western Digital by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,196,484,000 after purchasing an additional 243,177 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter valued at $791,317,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $456,884,000 after buying an additional 384,103 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,804,907 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $456,737,000 after buying an additional 402,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $409,049,000 after buying an additional 3,339,225 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $365.00 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $289.34 and a 200 day moving average of $213.17. The stock has a market cap of $123.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.61, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $35.00 and a 52-week high of $366.30.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on WDC shares. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Western Digital to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on Western Digital in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.33.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total transaction of $2,501,349.48. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,630.14. This trade represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $9,616,638.18. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 92,795 shares of company stock worth $24,265,884. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage devices and systems for personal, enterprise and cloud applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company develops hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), NAND flash components and finished storage products used in PCs, external storage, servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and embedded systems.

Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial markets, including internal and external HDDs and SSDs, removable flash memory products and storage platforms for data center and enterprise environments.