Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Bought by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 981.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,821 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,804 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parsifal Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Western Digital by 32.0% in the first quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 897,574 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $36,289,000 after acquiring an additional 217,574 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 52.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,838 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 9,974 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $233,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,406,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in Western Digital by 5.1% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 144,307 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,834,000 after buying an additional 6,947 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $115.42 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.26. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $137.40. The company has a market cap of $39.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.77.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. Research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total transaction of $1,024,159.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 151,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,687,602.84. The trade was a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 3,160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $239,148.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,560 shares in the company, valued at $2,388,460.80. This trade represents a 9.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,921,594. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Western Digital from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Wedbush raised their price target on Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.63.

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.