Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 9,751 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group increased its stake in Western Digital by 53%, buying an additional 9,751 shares to hold 28,139 shares worth about $4.85 million at quarter end.
• Western Digital beat quarterly expectations with $2.13 EPS vs. $1.93 expected and $3.02 billion revenue (up 25.2% YoY), prompting analyst price-target upgrades and a consensus target around $304, alongside shareholder-friendly actions (25% dividend bump and buybacks).
• Insider selling has been notable: insiders disposed of 92,795 shares (~$24.3 million) in the last 90 days, even as institutional ownership remains very high at 92.51%.

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 53.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,139 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,751 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,196,484,000 after acquiring an additional 243,177 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $791,317,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Western Digital by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $456,884,000 after acquiring an additional 384,103 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Western Digital by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,804,907 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $456,737,000 after acquiring an additional 402,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 4,923.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $409,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,339,225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $372.52 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $35.51 and a 1 year high of $378.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $217.26. The firm has a market cap of $126.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.77.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. The company's revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $200.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Argus set a $300.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Susquehanna reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group set a $306.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, February 9th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $304.29.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 8,518 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.32, for a total transaction of $2,174,815.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 99,276 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,347,148.32. This trade represents a 7.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 121,682 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,643,630.14. This represents a 7.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 92,795 shares of company stock valued at $24,265,884. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its WDC price target to $415 and assigned a "buy" rating, signaling increased analyst conviction and implying further upside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target to $400 and moved to "overweight," another institutional upgrade supporting the rally and likely attracting more buyer interest. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Solid fundamentals and earnings momentum — WDC has a recent track record of beats and raised guidance drivers (high-capacity/HAMR drives, manufacturing productivity). Analysts and outlets highlight the company as positioned to beat again, which supports valuation multiple expansion. Will Western Digital (WDC) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Positive Sentiment: WDC reported multi‑year AI storage commitments from large customers, boosted its dividend by 25% and announced meaningful buybacks — all shareholder‑friendly actions that underpin investor confidence in continued demand from AI workloads. Western Digital (WDC) Is Up 7.7% After Securing Multi‑Year AI Storage Commitments And Boosting Payouts
• Positive Sentiment: Broader market strength (Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq gains and new highs) is lifting cyclical and growth names, providing tailwinds for WDC’s share price. Dow jumps 800 points, S&P 500 at new record, Nasdaq gains 6.8% this week
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage notes WDC hitting record highs and strong institutional buying, but also documents insider selling activity — the market reaction so far shows buyers outweighing internal selling, so this is mixed for near‑term direction. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Surges to Record Peak Despite Insider Sales Activity
• Negative Sentiment: Retail SSD price cuts (example: WD Blue SN5100 markdown) could signal near‑term ASP pressure in consumer channels and tighter margins if competition forces broader discounting. WD Blue SN5100 NVMe SSD drops to $324.61 in latest price cut

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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