Cigna Investments Inc. New Takes $222,000 Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Cigna Investments Inc. has acquired a new position in Western Digital Corporation, purchasing 3,479 shares valued at approximately $222,000 in the second quarter.
• Several institutional investors have boosted their stakes in Western Digital, with a combined ownership of 92.51% of the stock by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Western Digital reported earnings of $1.66 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and reflecting a 30% year-over-year revenue increase.

Cigna Investments Inc. New bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,479 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 130.0% during the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $203,337,000 after buying an additional 2,842,822 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 107.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $136,222,000 after buying an additional 1,742,481 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $50,897,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in Western Digital during the first quarter worth $35,406,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new position in Western Digital during the first quarter worth $22,849,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark raised their price objective on Western Digital from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Western Digital from $123.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush raised their price objective on Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Western Digital from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.63.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $107.21 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $113.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business's fifty day moving average price is $83.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69.

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

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total transaction of $1,024,159.47. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 151,596 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,687,602.84. This trade represents a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 3,160 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $239,148.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,560 shares in the company, valued at $2,388,460.80. This trade represents a 9.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,921,594 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.

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