Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Purchases 91,966 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 78.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 208,778 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 91,966 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $13,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,938,495 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,736,003,000 after purchasing an additional 478,728 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position 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 worth $203,337,000 after buying an additional 2,842,822 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Western Digital by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $139,476,000 after buying an additional 52,140 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 107.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $136,222,000 after buying an additional 1,742,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 8.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,933,278 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $118,574,000 after acquiring an additional 216,387 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 3,160 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $239,148.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,388,460.80. This trade represents a 9.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 69,730 shares of company stock worth $6,935,394. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $162.96 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $118.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.64, a P/E/G 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $167.50.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter. The business 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 7.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Western Digital from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Western Digital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. One equities research 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.