Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Purchased by Sound Income Strategies LLC

Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 8.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 82,027 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,153 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total value of $94,887.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $55.70 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $45.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.70. The company has a market cap of $19.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 1.49. 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 (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast 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 approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the data storage provider to repurchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 7.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WDC shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (up from $54.00) on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.37.

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.