57,678 Shares in Western Digital Corporation $WDC Bought by L & S Advisors Inc

L & S Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 57,678 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,691,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted 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 in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake 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 valued at $136,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,481 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $50,897,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,406,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth $22,849,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total transaction of $1,024,159.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 151,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,687,602.84. This represents a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 135,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,121,547.78. The trade was a 9.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 60,186 shares of company stock valued at $6,213,015 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 31st. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.74.

Western Digital Trading Down 5.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $157.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $178.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.38. 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 released its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders 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%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.28%.

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.