Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Invests $83,000 in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,303 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $83,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 34.1% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 242.2% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 91.2% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,279 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total value of $654,333.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 594,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,148,052.40. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total value of $28,557.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,425 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,682.50. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,730 shares of company stock worth $3,921,594 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WDC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Western Digital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.63.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $115.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $39.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.77. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $137.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $94.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.91.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

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.