Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Makes New $22.85 Million Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired 565,161 shares of Western Digital Corporation, valued at approximately $22.8 million, representing about 0.16% of the company.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Western Digital, with UBS Group increasing it from $45 to $75, and Wedbush upgrading it to $90, reflecting renewed optimism in the stock.
• Western Digital declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share and initiated a $2 billion stock buyback program, indicating confidence in its valuation and shareholder returns.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 565,161 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $22,849,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned about 0.16% of Western Digital as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Western Digital by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 242.2% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC traded down $1.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $80.34. The stock had a trading volume of 5,004,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,060,305. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.58. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $82.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%.Western Digital's quarterly revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on WDC shares. Wall Street Zen started coverage on Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Benchmark raised their target price on Western Digital from $58.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.39.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 5,597 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.26, for a total value of $426,827.22. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 154,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,795,820.54. The trade was a 3.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total value of $654,333.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 594,836 shares in the company, valued at $45,148,052.40. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,361 shares of company stock worth $3,006,534. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Profile

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.