Bessemer Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 23.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,465 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,896 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% during the 3rd 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. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $512,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,809,409 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $483,977,000 after acquiring an additional 159,167 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from a rebound in memory stocks as investors step back in after last week’s selloff, improving sentiment across the semiconductor group. Micron Jumps 5%, SanDisk Rises 6%, Western Digital Climbs 4% as Memory Stocks Rebound With Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s view that the memory-stock selloff created a strong entry point is encouraging dip-buying in Western Digital and other chip names. The Memory Stock Sell-Off Created a ‘Strong Entry Point,' Says Morgan Stanley. Investors Are Buying In.
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital Malaysia was recognized for advancing sustainable AI infrastructure, which supports the company’s AI narrative but is unlikely to be the main stock-moving catalyst today. WD Malaysia Recognized for Advancing Sustainable AI Infrastructure

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 28,959 shares of company stock worth $12,631,666 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on WDC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Fox Advisors cut shares of Western Digital from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Susquehanna increased their price target on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price target on Western Digital and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $520.32.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $487.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $168.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.10 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $66.04 and a 1 year high of $799.87. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $560.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $388.23.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

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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