J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Has $594,000 Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG significantly reduced its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 58.3%, now holding 9,280 shares valued at $594,000 as per its latest SEC filing.
• Several hedge funds have increased their stakes in Western Digital, with Brooklyn Investment Group raising its position by 91.2% in the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their target prices for Western Digital, with Barclays setting a target of $105.00 and Citigroup at $110.00, indicating positive sentiment around the stock.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lowered its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 58.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,280 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 12,989 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Western Digital were worth $594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 242.2% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 91.2% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,279 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Western Digital from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Benchmark boosted their target price on Western Digital from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Western Digital from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $91.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total value of $1,024,159.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 151,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,687,602.84. The trade was a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total value of $1,051,930.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 135,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,121,547.78. This trade represents a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,921,594 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $131.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.81 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.77. The firm's 50 day moving average is $90.08 and its 200 day moving average is $64.42. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $137.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Western Digital's payout ratio is 7.77%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.