Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 9.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,500 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 9,292 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WDC. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 9.6% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 30,434 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,938,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Western Digital by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 897,574 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $36,289,000 after buying an additional 217,574 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $233,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,406,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total transaction of $1,024,159.47. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 151,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,687,602.84. This trade represents a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total transaction of $28,557.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,682.50. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,696 shares of company stock worth $4,066,517. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Western Digital from $94.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on Western Digital from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Benchmark raised their target price on Western Digital from $115.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.16.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $150.93 on Tuesday. 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 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $178.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $132.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.81.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 7.28%.

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.