Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by HBK Investments L P

HBK Investments L P reduced its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 86.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,041 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 159,905 shares during the period. HBK Investments L P’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 102.5% during 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 grew its position in Western Digital by 86.9% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter worth $29,000. CNB Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 47.2% during the second quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 577 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Western Digital from $125.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Western Digital from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $170.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.16.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total value of $3,013,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,265,422.23. This represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 3,863 shares in the company, valued at $596,524.46. This represents a 31.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,911 shares of company stock worth $4,588,187. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital Stock Up 3.7%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $163.62 on Monday. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $178.45. The stock has a market cap of $55.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $136.77 and a 200 day moving average of $93.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. This is a positive change 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%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.28%.

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.