Americana Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Americana Partners LLC disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Western Digital, buying 8,938 shares valued at about $1.54 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 92.51% of Western Digital’s stock. Several firms also increased positions, while insiders have sold shares in recent months.
• Western Digital topped earnings expectations, reporting $2.72 EPS on revenue of $3.34 billion, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $395.83.

Americana Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 8,938 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,540,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 229.7% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 106 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.87, for a total transaction of $48,640.22. Following the sale, the insider owned 118,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,349,939.41. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,785 shares of company stock worth $18,097,954. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WDC. Mizuho set a $470.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Argus set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $395.83.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $484.28 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $373.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.41. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.00 and a twelve month high of $525.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.92 billion, a PE ratio of 28.91 and a beta of 2.10.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.58%.

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.

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