Vidyadhara K. Gubbi Sells 3,947 Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 3,947 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.88, for a total transaction of $295,551.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 160,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,001,466.88. The trade was a 2.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $76.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $26.54 billion, a PE ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.40. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $78.80.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. Western Digital’s revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to buy up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 86.9% in the second 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 period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CNB Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 47.2% in the second quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 577 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BNP Paribas reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 16th. TD Securities reduced their target price 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, May 1st. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $53.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.74.

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.