ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 6,026 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 6.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 96,690 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,026 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $6,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 86.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. CNB Bank acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Western Digital by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on WDC shares. Benchmark boosted their price target on Western Digital from $115.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on Western Digital from $105.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.74.

Western Digital Trading Down 5.4%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $157.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $53.73 billion, a PE ratio of 30.52, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.81. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $178.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $124.67 and a 200-day moving average of $84.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total transaction of $1,051,930.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 135,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,121,547.78. The trade was a 9.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,265,422.23. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 60,186 shares of company stock valued at $6,213,015. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Western Digital

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.