Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Makes New Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a significant stake of 1,258,900 shares in Western Digital Corporation, valued at approximately $50.9 million, representing about 0.36% ownership of the company.
• Western Digital's recent stock performance showed a sharp increase in analyst ratings, with several firms raising their price targets to values between $62 and $95, indicating growing confidence in the company's prospects.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share and has initiated a stock repurchase plan authorizing up to $2 billion in buybacks, signaling its belief that its shares are undervalued.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,258,900 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $50,897,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.36% of Western Digital at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 242.2% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 5,597 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total transaction of $1,051,930.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 135,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,121,547.78. This trade represents a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 40,361 shares of company stock valued at $3,006,534. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.0%

WDC stock traded up $1.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $81.91. 5,769,160 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,616,165. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.55. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $82.32.

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

Western Digital declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $53.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.39.

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.