E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Acquires New Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• E Fund Management initiated a Western Digital position of 30,057 shares worth approximately $19.2 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of WDC.
• Western Digital recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $3.56 in EPS versus the $3.31 consensus and $3.75 billion in revenue, up 43.8% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $534.56.
• Despite strong AI-driven storage demand and product shortages, WDC faces volatility from rising Treasury yields, technology-sector selling and concerns that its rally has pushed valuations too high.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 30,057 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $19,198,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Western Digital by 71.4% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 230,578 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $147,275,000 after purchasing an additional 96,078 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $2,270,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $193,303,000 after acquiring an additional 282,156 shares during the last quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth about $20,889,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors grew its holdings in Western Digital by 145.8% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 5,950 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 3,529 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from a shortage of storage products and continued AI-related demand, supporting an optimistic long-term growth outlook. Is Western Digital Stock an Undervalued AI Stock to Buy?
• Positive Sentiment: Momentum-focused analysis continues to identify WDC as an attractive pick, reflecting strong recent performance and favorable investor sentiment toward AI-driven storage demand. Why Western Digital Is a Great Momentum Choice
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer said it may not be too late to invest in memory and storage stocks, but he also highlighted the sector’s historical boom-and-bust cycles, underscoring the risk of sharp swings in demand and pricing. Jim Cramer Discusses WDC and Other Memory Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: A broader technology selloff pressured WDC and other memory stocks as investors reduced exposure to AI hardware following a Wall Street Journal report about undisclosed AI-related spending commitments. WSJ Report Sends Memory Stocks Lower
• Negative Sentiment: Rising Treasury yields are weighing on high-growth semiconductor and storage shares by increasing discount rates and making richly valued AI trades less attractive, even without a deterioration in memory fundamentals. Higher Rates Test the Memory Boom
• Negative Sentiment: One recent analysis argues that WDC could be substantially overvalued after its strong rally, while uncertainty over whether Apple can source high-bandwidth memory from Chinese suppliers is creating additional volatility around potential demand shifts. Western Digital Could Be Overvalued on Apple China Memory Push

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WDC. Wall Street Zen lowered Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Summit Insights lowered shares of Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $462.09 on Thursday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $555.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $431.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 2.14. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $73.14 and a 1-year high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The firm 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 was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued 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 is presently 2.48%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total value of $427,941.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 114,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,663,290.57. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,987 shares of company stock worth $11,602,097. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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