KBC Group NV Cuts Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• KBC Group NV cut its Western Digital stake by 59.5% in Q1, selling 355,182 shares and leaving it with 241,827 shares valued at about $65.4 million.
• Western Digital has seen mixed analyst activity, with recent upgrades and higher price targets from firms like Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley, while Fox Advisors downgraded the stock to equal weight. The consensus rating remains Moderate Buy.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share from $0.12. Recent news also notes a rebound in memory stocks, which is helping sentiment around WDC.

KBC Group NV decreased its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 59.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 241,827 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 355,182 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned 0.07% of Western Digital worth $65,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 132 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,707 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $811,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Western Digital by 1.1% in the first quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 3,782 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,023,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadcap Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from a rebound in memory stocks as investors step back in after last week’s selloff, improving sentiment across the semiconductor group. Micron Jumps 5%, SanDisk Rises 6%, Western Digital Climbs 4% as Memory Stocks Rebound With Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s view that the memory-stock selloff created a strong entry point is encouraging dip-buying in Western Digital and other chip names. The Memory Stock Sell-Off Created a ‘Strong Entry Point,' Says Morgan Stanley. Investors Are Buying In.
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital Malaysia was recognized for advancing sustainable AI infrastructure, which supports the company’s AI narrative but is unlikely to be the main stock-moving catalyst today. WD Malaysia Recognized for Advancing Sustainable AI Infrastructure

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 28,959 shares of company stock valued at $12,631,666 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Fox Advisors downgraded shares of Western Digital from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $520.32.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $487.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $168.00 billion, a PE ratio of 29.10 and a beta of 2.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $560.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $388.23. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $66.04 and a 1 year high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm's revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.58%.

Western Digital Company 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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