Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Acquired by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 38.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 276,078 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,111 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.08% of Western Digital worth $17,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,736,003,000 after buying an additional 478,728 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,305,289 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $593,045,000 after acquiring an additional 186,030 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 130.0% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 2,842,822 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $139,476,000 after purchasing an additional 52,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,742,481 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $125.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $180.00 target price on Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush lifted their target price on Western Digital from $90.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Western Digital from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.16.

Western Digital Stock Up 3.7%

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $163.62 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $136.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.08. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $178.45. The firm has a market cap of $55.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 7.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total value of $277,956.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,524.46. This trade represents a 31.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,911 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,187. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.