Longboard Asset Management LP Purchases Shares of 3,185 Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Longboard Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Western Digital Corporation, purchasing 3,185 shares valued at approximately $204,000 in the second quarter.
• Analysts have recently upgraded Western Digital's stock ratings, with numerous reports indicating targets ranging from $70.00 to $123.00, reflecting a generally "Moderate Buy" sentiment among investors.
• Western Digital also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 0.4%.

Longboard Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,185 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WDC. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 28,431 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 101.9% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 8,743 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 4,412 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 38,969 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,324,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Western Digital by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 131,691 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $7,853,000 after acquiring an additional 11,052 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP grew its position in Western Digital by 158.6% in the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 100,610 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,999,000 after acquiring an additional 61,702 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WDC. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Western Digital from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Western Digital from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Western Digital from $100.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Western Digital from $87.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.68.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of WDC traded up $1.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $106.63. 11,026,533 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,291,884. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $107.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.23. The firm has a market cap of $37.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%.The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total value of $28,557.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 27,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,682.50. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total value of $1,024,159.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider 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 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 three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Western Digital

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.