KBC Group NV Cuts Stock Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

KBC Group NV reduced its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 26.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 213,164 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 76,529 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.06% of Western Digital worth $13,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 102.5% in the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 399 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 86.9% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. CNB Bank bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Western Digital by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Western Digital from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Western Digital from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $180.00 price objective on Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen raised their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.74.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $157.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $124.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.38. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $178.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $53.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.52, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.81.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 3,160 shares of Western Digital 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 owned 31,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,388,460.80. The trade was a 9.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 645,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,265,422.23. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 60,186 shares of company stock worth $6,213,015 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.