4,859 Shares in Western Digital Corporation $WDC Purchased by Persistent Asset Partners Ltd

Key Points

• Persistent Asset Partners initiated a 4,859-share Western Digital position worth approximately $3.1 million, while institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Western Digital receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $534.56, although some firms recently downgraded or reduced targets.
• Western Digital beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue up 43.8% year over year, but elevated growth expectations, storage-market volatility and recent insider selling remain risks. The company also announced a $0.15 quarterly dividend.

Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,859 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,104,000. Western Digital comprises 0.9% of Persistent Asset Partners Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 45.5% during the second quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 2.1% during the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Summit Insights lowered shares of Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC opened at $508.80 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $556.33 and a 200-day moving average of $426.77. The company has a market capitalization of $175.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 2.14. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $73.14 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital's revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.48%.

Key Western Digital News

Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sector rally supports WDC. SanDisk’s bullish long-term growth targets, including expectations for sustained flash-memory demand, boosted sentiment toward storage companies. Western Digital benefited from the read-through, particularly as investors anticipate continued AI infrastructure spending on HDD and NAND storage. SanDisk outlook article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and quantitative signals improved. Zacks upgraded Western Digital to Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” citing improving earnings prospects. WDC was also included among Zacks’ top momentum stocks, while JPMorgan reportedly raised its price target to $650. Zacks upgrade article
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results provide fundamental support. Western Digital’s latest quarter exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, with revenue rising 43.8% year over year. Stronger pricing, high-capacity drive demand and AI-driven storage requirements are supporting expectations for continued growth. WDC sector rally article
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning is mixed: JPMorgan and Capital World Investors added shares, while several large investors reduced holdings. The conflicting activity does not establish a clear institutional trend.
• Negative Sentiment: Elevated expectations remain a risk. Despite the earnings beat, WDC shares previously fell sharply because management’s guidance did not exceed demanding investor expectations. Concerns remain about moderating sequential growth, NAND pricing volatility and whether the AI-driven storage cycle has peaked. WDC earnings reaction article
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling may weigh on sentiment. CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares for approximately $8.9 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Broader data shows substantial insider selling and no reported insider purchases during the past six months. CEO insider sale article

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 114,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,663,290.57. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. The trade was a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,093 shares of company stock worth $11,650,737. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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