Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Takes Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 55,591 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,674,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,196,484,000 after acquiring an additional 243,177 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,305,289 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $593,045,000 after purchasing an additional 186,030 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at $791,317,000. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 5,535,972 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $354,247,000 after purchasing an additional 431,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,735,296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $239,022,000 after purchasing an additional 545,500 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $285.52 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.41. The stock has a market cap of $96.80 billion, a PE ratio of 28.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.80. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $309.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total transaction of $5,108,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,288,807.84. This trade represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 1,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value of $272,272.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,090. The trade was a 33.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 70,522 shares of company stock worth $17,661,708. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on Western Digital from $240.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $197.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $260.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $193.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $265.58.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage devices and systems for personal, enterprise and cloud applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company develops hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), NAND flash components and finished storage products used in PCs, external storage, servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and embedded systems.

Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial markets, including internal and external HDDs and SSDs, removable flash memory products and storage platforms for data center and enterprise environments.