Rivermont Capital Management LP Increases Stock Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Rivermont Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 210,045 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,068 shares during the quarter. Western Digital makes up about 4.7% of Rivermont Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Rivermont Capital Management LP’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $12,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth about $352,572,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $94,181,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,531,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,149 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $68,950,000. Finally, Atalan Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,612,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $68,616.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $548,354.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 605,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,494 shares of company stock valued at $636,747 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WDC shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays set a $50.00 price target on Western Digital and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.15.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.4%

WDC opened at $49.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.42. Western Digital Co. has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 7.58%.

About Western Digital

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.