Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Bought by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 659,524 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 38,294 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $42,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 102.5% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 399 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 86.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. SouthState Corp boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 422.9% in the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 617 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 178.3% during the 2nd quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 668 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Western Digital to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $180.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $105.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Western Digital from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.74.

Western Digital Stock Up 6.9%

WDC stock opened at $174.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a fifty day moving average of $119.97 and a 200-day moving average of $82.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $176.23.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. As a group, analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total value of $1,024,159.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 151,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,687,602.84. This trade represents a 6.96% 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 the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total transaction of $3,013,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares in the company, valued at $97,265,422.23. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 65,783 shares of company stock worth $6,639,843. 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.