Kieckhefer Group LLC Purchases New Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 6,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $720,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 107,187 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $4,334,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 28.0% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,940 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 354.1% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 5,863 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 4,572 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Troluce Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 186.7% in the 1st quarter. Troluce Capital Advisors LLC now owns 711,750 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,776,000 after acquiring an additional 463,468 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $179.68 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $61.43 billion, a PE ratio of 26.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.82. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $188.77.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced 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 for the quarter. Western Digital had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 30.89%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th were given a $0.125 dividend. 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 7.28%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was 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 approximately $596,524.46. This trade represents a 31.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 2,801 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.57, for a total value of $449,756.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 144,596 shares in the company, valued at $23,217,779.72. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 26,369 shares of company stock valued at $4,013,785 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $180.00 price target on Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $105.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Mizuho set a $180.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.65.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage devices and systems for personal, enterprise and cloud applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company develops hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), NAND flash components and finished storage products used in PCs, external storage, servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and embedded systems.

Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial markets, including internal and external HDDs and SSDs, removable flash memory products and storage platforms for data center and enterprise environments.