Dearborn Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Dearborn Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,208 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $868,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter worth $32,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $3.56 per share, revenue of $3.75 billion and year-over-year revenue growth of approximately 44%. Analysts say accelerating AI and cloud-storage demand, improving margins and the planned ramp of 40TB drives and HAMR technology support the company’s fiscal 2027 outlook. WDC's Strong Q4 Raises the Stakes for Its Fiscal 2027 Product Ramp
• Positive Sentiment: Some commentary continues to view WDC as attractively positioned for growth because AI data centers require increasing storage capacity. However, the bullish case depends on successful product execution and sustained cloud spending. Western Digital: Time To Jump In Before Beast Mode Arrives Again
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital will participate in Citi’s 2026 Global TMT Conference on September 9. Management’s presentation could provide additional commentary on demand, pricing and the fiscal 2027 product ramp, but the announcement itself contains no new financial guidance. WD to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Cynthia L. Tregillis sold a combined 919 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sales represent a small reduction in her holdings and are less significant as a bearish signal because they were scheduled in advance. SEC insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Investors have rotated out of high-performing AI-chip and memory names ahead of Nvidia’s earnings report, weighing on WDC along with Micron and Seagate even though underlying storage demand remains firm. Micron, Seagate, Western Digital, Semtech, and Penguin Solutions Shares Are Falling
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Apple may source memory chips from Chinese suppliers have intensified concerns about competition and future pricing across the memory industry. WDC’s premium valuation, concentration in cloud customers and the need to execute its product ramp add to investor caution. Memory Stocks Slide on Report Apple May Source Chinese Chips

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 684 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $446.17, for a total value of $305,180.28. Following the sale, the insider owned 112,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,036,180.82. The trade was a 0.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 25,598 shares of company stock worth $11,868,944 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered Western Digital from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Trading Down 5.2%

Shares of WDC opened at $435.38 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $547.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $435.48. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $76.70 and a 12-month high of $799.87. The firm has a market cap of $150.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.48%.

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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