4,465 Shares in Western Digital Corporation $WDC Purchased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 4,465 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 Western Digital by 107.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $136,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,481 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth approximately $50,897,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth approximately $35,406,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at $22,849,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total value of $1,051,930.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 135,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,121,547.78. This represents a 9.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 3,160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Insiders sold 49,730 shares of company stock worth $3,921,594 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $115.42 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $137.40. The firm has a market cap of $39.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.08.

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

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Benchmark upped their price target on Western Digital from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Susquehanna raised their price target on Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Western Digital from $90.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.63.

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.