Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Holdings in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its stake in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 64.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 70,198 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 125,237 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,600 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 89.2% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,883 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $530,000 after acquiring an additional 4,187 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 137,360 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $8,338,000 after acquiring an additional 5,159 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,804 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 181,411 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $10,818,000 after acquiring an additional 6,331 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wall Street Zen began coverage on Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Western Digital from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BNP Paribas restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.37.

Western Digital Stock Up 3.1%

WDC opened at $57.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 1.49. Western Digital Co. has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. The business had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.58%.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to buy up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Western Digital Company 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.