Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Purchased by Utah Retirement Systems

Utah Retirement Systems raised its stake in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,365 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the quarter. Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 278.9% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, S.A. Mason LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Western Digital from $76.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.65.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $43.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Western Digital Co. has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $81.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.28.

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

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.62%.

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.