Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Sells 2,207 Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 23.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,300 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 2,207 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $352,572,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,531,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,149 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $68,950,000. Atalan Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $62,612,000. Finally, Sachem Head Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 2,967,900 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $176,976,000 after purchasing an additional 937,900 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,353 shares of company stock valued at $657,454. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $66.14 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.09. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $80.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market cap of $23.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 1.54.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The company had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to buy up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 7.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Mizuho reduced their target price on Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Western Digital 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, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Western Digital from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.11.

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.