Hennessy Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 5,204 Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Hennessy Advisors initiated a position in Western Digital by purchasing 5,204 shares valued at approximately $3.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion and EPS of $3.56, beating estimates. Management guided to next-quarter EPS of $3.85–$4.15, supported by continued AI, cloud and enterprise-storage demand.
• Analysts maintain a bullish outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $534.56, although recent profit-taking has pressured storage stocks and company insiders have sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,204 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,324,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Western Digital by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 229.7% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 55.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $152,000 after buying 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 News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s long-term outlook remains supported by demand for AI infrastructure, cloud computing, enterprise storage, automotive systems and other data-intensive applications. Analysts at Zacks continue to identify WDC as a potential beneficiary of strong memory and storage demand, particularly following Nvidia’s solid results. 4 High-Flying Memory and Storage Giants
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest quarterly results provide fundamental support: revenue rose 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion, while earnings of $3.56 per share exceeded expectations. Guidance for $3.85 to $4.15 in next-quarter EPS also remains constructive.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street’s consensus remains bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target above the current trading level. Several firms have cited continued AI and storage demand as reasons for further upside. Wall Street’s Bullish Views on WDC
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider Cynthia Tregillis sold a small portion of her holdings under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The transactions modestly reduce her position but do not necessarily signal deteriorating confidence. Cynthia Tregillis Insider Transactions
• Negative Sentiment: Memory and storage stocks sold off even after Nvidia reported strong results, suggesting investors are taking profits from an extended AI trade and differentiating among suppliers. Western Digital’s underperformance versus peers has amplified concern that expectations or valuation may have become too aggressive. Why Memory Stocks Fell Despite Nvidia’s Results

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group dropped 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 note on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Two investment 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $534.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 23,642 shares of company stock worth $10,676,659 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $459.45 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $158.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 2.14. The firm's 50-day moving average is $526.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $440.71. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $77.90 and a 12 month high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 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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