Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Mirae Asset Global Investments acquired 306,332 Western Digital shares worth approximately $139.2 million, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 92.51% of WDC.
• Western Digital reported strong fiscal first-quarter results, with revenue up 55.5% year over year to $4.38 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $4.64, exceeding analyst expectations. Management forecast about $5.1 billion in next-quarter revenue, supported by continued AI data-center storage demand.
• Despite strong fundamentals and a raised quarterly dividend of $0.175 per share, WDC shares opened down 7.4% at $366.11 amid concerns about sector valuations, capital spending and insider selling. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $591.04.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 306,332 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $139,216,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Western Digital as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $1,602,927,000. Anther Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $901,601,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $885,565,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital during the first quarter valued at approximately $350,403,000. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd acquired a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $627,606,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue of $4.38 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $4.64 and free cash flow of $1.38 billion, exceeding expectations. Management also forecast approximately $5.1 billion in fiscal second-quarter revenue and $5.80 in non-GAAP EPS, signaling continued strength in AI-related data-center storage demand. Western Digital slides as strong results fail to calm spending and sector worries
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst targets remain well above the current trading level, with Quiver Quantitative citing a six-month median target of $650. Several analysts view Western Digital as a major beneficiary of AI infrastructure expansion and rising demand for high-capacity nearline hard drives. Western Digital selloff and analyst targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital and Seagate are both benefiting from AI data-center spending. However, comparisons favor Seagate on some metrics, including return on equity, valuation and free-cash-flow generation, potentially affecting investor preference within the storage group. Seagate versus Western Digital
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are questioning whether AI infrastructure spending and lofty storage-sector valuations can remain sustainable. A sharp decline in Sandisk and weakness across memory and semiconductor stocks amplified pressure on WDC, even after Sandisk delivered strong results and raised guidance. Memory-sector selloff
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly capital spending of $227 million, continued buybacks and capacity and technology-transition needs have raised concerns about cash demands and future returns. Profit-taking after WDC’s substantial earlier advance may also be contributing to the decline. Quiver also reports 110 insider sales and no insider purchases over the past six months, an additional sentiment headwind. Western Digital spending and insider activity

Western Digital Stock Down 7.4%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $366.11 on Friday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $421.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $416.75. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $132.43 and a 52-week high of $799.87. The firm has a market cap of $137.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 69.20% and a return on equity of 55.62%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 23.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.1750 per share. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on WDC. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $900.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Susquehanna set a $405.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $730.00 to $450.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $591.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. The trade was a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 807 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total value of $306,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 108,928 shares in the company, valued at $41,392,640. This represents a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,436 shares of company stock worth $11,340,064. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Profile

Western Digital Corporation NASDAQ: WDC is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.

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