Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Bought by Axa S.A.

Axa S.A. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 300.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,336 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 24,262 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. S.A. Mason LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WDC. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 2nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Western Digital from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $44.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.99. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.49.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 7.58%.

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.