Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Stock Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Western Digital Corporation by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, owning 2,933,278 shares valued at approximately $118.57 million.
• Western Digital reported earnings of $1.66 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and displaying a 30% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company has initiated a $2.00 billion share repurchase program, reflecting confidence that its shares are undervalued.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,933,278 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 216,387 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.84% of Western Digital worth $118,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WDC. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total value of $94,887.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 owned 154,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,795,820.54. The trade was a 3.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,139 shares of company stock valued at $1,485,812 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Stock Up 3.1%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $76.97 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $68.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $26.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.58. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $78.80.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $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 dividend payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen started coverage on Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 2nd. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on Western Digital from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One research 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.39.

About Western Digital

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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