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

KBC Group NV trimmed its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 26.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure 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 period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $13,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 130.0% in 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 last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Western Digital by 107.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $136,222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,481 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter worth $50,897,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at $35,406,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the first quarter valued at about $22,849,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Western Digital to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $125.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,265,422.23. This represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total value of $1,051,930.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 135,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,121,547.78. This trade represents a 9.41% decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Stock Down 5.4%

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $157.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $178.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $124.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.81.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 7.28%.

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.