Simon Quick Advisors LLC Makes New $534,000 Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,340 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $534,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WDC. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 130.0% during the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $203,337,000 after buying an additional 2,842,822 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 107.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $136,222,000 after buying an additional 1,742,481 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at about $50,897,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,406,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at about $22,849,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $150.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $157.65. The business’s 50 day moving average is $110.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.82.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business 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, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WDC. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Western Digital from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Western Digital from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Western Digital from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $180.00 price objective on Western Digital in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.63.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total transaction of $28,557.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 27,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,682.50. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total value of $1,024,159.47. Following the sale, the insider owned 151,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,687,602.84. This represents a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,921,594. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.