Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Boosts Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 270.3% in the fourth quarter, ending with 10,990 shares valued at about $1.89 million.
• Western Digital reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $2.72 and revenue of $3.34 billion, both beating analyst estimates, while revenue rose 45.5% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share, and analysts remain optimistic, with multiple target increases and a consensus Moderate Buy rating.

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 270.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,990 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,022 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Western Digital by 7.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,698,000 after buying an additional 3,019 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 229.7% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $480.09 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $325.84 and a 200-day moving average of $242.16. The company has a market capitalization of $165.48 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.88 and a 1-year high of $483.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The company's revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total transaction of $2,743,105.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 107,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,137,796.14. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total transaction of $2,501,349.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 121,682 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,643,630.14. This trade represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 53,679 shares of company stock worth $18,049,314. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analysts remain upbeat on Western Digital, with firms lifting price targets and Zacks upgrading the stock to Strong Buy, signaling rising confidence in demand trends and earnings momentum. Zacks Research upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage is highlighting Western Digital as a beneficiary of the AI memory and data-center storage supercycle, with demand for high-capacity storage solutions expected to stay elevated. Motley Fool article
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s recent earnings beat, raised guidance, and multiple target increases from analysts continue to support the stock’s sharp year-to-date gain and keep momentum investors engaged. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital also announced progress on simplifying its structure by unwinding its remaining Sandisk stake through share swaps and future distributions, which may help investors better value WDC as a more focused storage pure play. Yahoo Finance share swap article

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WDC. Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Argus set a $300.00 target price on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Western Digital from $405.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $395.83.

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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