Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Makes New $645,000 Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Astoria Portfolio Advisors opened a new position in Western Digital, buying 3,742 shares valued at about $645,000 in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional interest is strong, with large investors like Norges Bank and Northern Trust also adding or building sizeable stakes; the article says 92.51% of WDC is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Analysts have turned more bullish on Western Digital, with several rating upgrades and Morgan Stanley raising its price target to $650; the stock also rose after the company beat earnings estimates and increased its quarterly dividend.

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,742 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $645,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 11.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $456,884,000 after acquiring an additional 384,103 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,804,907 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $456,737,000 after purchasing an additional 402,981 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $409,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,339,225 shares during the period. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $450.46.

Western Digital Trading Up 4.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $746.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $257.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.55 and a beta of 2.13. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $478.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $324.21. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.66 and a 12-month high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.58%.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is getting momentum-stock attention from analysts and traders who see AI-driven data-center growth supporting long-term demand for high-capacity storage. Seagate & Another AI Memory Momentum Stock With Big Upside
• Positive Sentiment: Shares are also benefiting from an industry-wide surge in memory stocks after reports that Apple flagged “unavoidable” memory price hikes, reinforcing pricing power across the sector. SanDisk Jumps 11%, Western Digital Rises 7% After Apple Flags “Unavoidable” Memory Price Hikes
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage continues to frame WDC as a strong momentum name, with articles suggesting more upside could remain after its recent run. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Could Close Out the Week with Major Gains
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have been raising price targets and highlighting WDC’s strong profitability, which is adding to bullish sentiment. Morgan Stanley Raises Price Target on Western Digital (WDC). Here is Why
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market rotation away from tech and into financials could create near-term volatility for technology stocks, including WDC. Financials Rose, Tech Fell Before Kevin Warsh Fed Debut

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 90,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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