Korea Investment CORP Acquires New Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP acquired 269,910 Western Digital shares worth approximately $172.4 million, giving it about a 0.08% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with two Strong Buy and 18 Buy ratings; Western Digital has a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $534.56, despite several recent target-price reductions.
• Western Digital exceeded quarterly expectations with $3.56 in adjusted EPS and $3.75 billion in revenue, up 43.8% year over year. The company issued Q1 2027 EPS guidance of $3.85–$4.15 and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share.

Korea Investment CORP bought a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 269,910 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $172,397,000. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.08% of Western Digital as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% in the first 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 buying an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 55.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price objective on Western Digital and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 price objective on Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho set a $590.00 target price on Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.56.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 114,539 shares in the company, valued at $60,663,290.57. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,679 shares of company stock valued at $11,451,605. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $459.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $158.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 2.14. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $74.57 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $552.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $433.31.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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