Hsbc Holdings PLC Has $79.29 Million Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 23.8% in Q1, owning nearly 2 million shares valued at approximately $79.29 million.
• Analysts have positive outlooks for Western Digital, with UBS and Rosenblatt raising their price targets to $75 and $90, respectively, while the overall consensus rating is "Moderate Buy."
• Western Digital recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share and a share repurchase plan allowing buybacks of up to $2 billion, signaling confidence in its stock valuation.

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 23.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,989,719 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 382,356 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.57% of Western Digital worth $79,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,817 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 34.1% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,395 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,835,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 14,330 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $854,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Western Digital from $53.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities decreased their price target on Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BNP Paribas restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at $2,200,084.32. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 5,597 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.26, for a total transaction of $426,827.22. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 154,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,795,820.54. This trade represents a 3.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,518 shares of company stock valued at $831,479 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $75.64 on Thursday. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $78.80. The company has a market capitalization of $26.39 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $67.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. Analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Profile

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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