Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 7,485 Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Beacon Pointe Advisors initiated a position of 7,485 Western Digital shares valued at approximately $4.8 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company, with several other major funds also adding or expanding positions.
• Western Digital reported quarterly EPS of $3.56, exceeding estimates of $3.31, while revenue rose 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $534.56.
• Shares opened at $459.45, below the 50-day moving average of $526.99, amid concerns about volatility in AI-related memory and storage stocks. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, while insiders sold roughly $12.1 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,485 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,781,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew 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 worth $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,602,927,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $221,800,000. Finally, Anther Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth $901,601,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on WDC shares. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 target price on Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Fox Advisors downgraded Western Digital from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Western Digital from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $459.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $158.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 2.14. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $526.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $439.63. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $77.90 and a 12-month high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. The company's revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at $47,366,060.96. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 26,117 shares of company stock worth $12,053,353 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s long-term outlook remains supported by demand for AI infrastructure, cloud computing, enterprise storage, automotive systems and other data-intensive applications. Analysts at Zacks continue to identify WDC as a potential beneficiary of strong memory and storage demand, particularly following Nvidia’s solid results. 4 High-Flying Memory and Storage Giants
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest quarterly results provide fundamental support: revenue rose 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion, while earnings of $3.56 per share exceeded expectations. Guidance for $3.85 to $4.15 in next-quarter EPS also remains constructive.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street’s consensus remains bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target above the current trading level. Several firms have cited continued AI and storage demand as reasons for further upside. Wall Street’s Bullish Views on WDC
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider Cynthia Tregillis sold a small portion of her holdings under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The transactions modestly reduce her position but do not necessarily signal deteriorating confidence. Cynthia Tregillis Insider Transactions
• Negative Sentiment: Memory and storage stocks sold off even after Nvidia reported strong results, suggesting investors are taking profits from an extended AI trade and differentiating among suppliers. Western Digital’s underperformance versus peers has amplified concern that expectations or valuation may have become too aggressive. Why Memory Stocks Fell Despite Nvidia’s Results

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.

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