Western Digital Corporation $WDC is Slate Path Capital LP’s 2nd Largest Position

Slate Path Capital LP decreased its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 21.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,038,091 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 1,632,800 shares during the quarter. Western Digital accounts for about 6.6% of Slate Path Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Slate Path Capital LP owned 1.73% of Western Digital worth $386,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 102.5% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 399 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 86.9% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 47.2% during the second quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 577 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WDC. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Western Digital from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.70.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total value of $3,013,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares in the company, valued at $97,265,422.23. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total value of $277,956.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,524.46. The trade was a 31.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,369 shares of company stock valued at $4,013,785. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 7.3%

WDC stock opened at $181.95 on Thursday. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $182.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $145.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.59. The firm has a market cap of $62.21 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 30.89% and a net margin of 21.37%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 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.