Kestra Advisory Services LLC Cuts Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services cut its Western Digital stake by 26.4% in the first quarter, selling 3,679 shares and ending with 10,262 shares worth about $2.78 million.
• Insider selling continued, with CEO Irving Tan and Director Bruce E. Kiddoo among those selling shares; insiders have sold 29,322 shares worth about $12.77 million over the past 90 days.
• Analyst sentiment remains bullish overall, with multiple firms raising ratings or price targets and MarketBeat reporting a consensus Moderate Buy and average target price of $520.32.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC lowered its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 26.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,262 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 3,679 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth $47,000. Avion Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at about $50,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value 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. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WDC. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings raised Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price objective on Western Digital and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $520.32.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: New coverage says Western Digital is well positioned to benefit from global AI infrastructure growth, with rising demand for advanced memory and storage supporting a stronger long-term revenue outlook. 4 Top-Ranked Memory Stocks to Buy as AI Infrastructure Expands Globally
• Positive Sentiment: Another report highlighted Western Digital as one of two smaller AI storage names that could benefit from expanding data center demand, citing improving margins and earnings growth potential. Everyone's Buying NVIDIA, but 2 Smaller AI Stocks Could Soar Higher
• Positive Sentiment: A separate Zacks piece argues AI data growth is accelerating HDD demand and that Western Digital’s focused strategy could help it capture hyperscale storage opportunities. AI Data Growth is Exploding: Can Western Digital Keep Up?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several market wrap-ups noted high volatility in tech and momentum stocks, which is adding noise to trading in Western Digital and other memory names. The Tech Shakeout: Market Extremes & Gavin Baker's Bold Call
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street commentary also flagged Western Digital as part of a broader AI-memory trade, with analysts still generally constructive but market sentiment swinging sharply day to day. Which Storage Stock Is Best Positioned to Win the AI Memory War?
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports said Western Digital fell alongside SanDisk and Micron as investors took profits in semiconductor and memory stocks, reflecting sector-wide rotation rather than company-specific trouble. Nasdaq Slips as Chip Stocks Come Under Pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital also faced a post-rally pullback as traders reassessed how durable the AI-driven storage boom will be ahead of the company’s next earnings report and guidance. Why Western Digital (WDC) Stock Is Down Today

Western Digital Trading Up 2.2%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $477.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $164.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.49 and a beta of 2.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $560.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $384.59. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $66.04 and a twelve month high of $799.87.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's payout ratio 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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