Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich Cuts Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Munich Reinsurance cut its Western Digital stake by 30.8% in the first quarter, selling 14,761 shares and leaving it with 33,179 shares worth about $8.98 million.
• Western Digital reported strong quarterly results, beating estimates with EPS of $2.72 on revenue of $3.34 billion, and it raised its quarterly dividend from $0.12 to $0.15 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains upbeat, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $502.12.

Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich lowered its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 30.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,179 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 14,761 shares during the period. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich's holdings in Western Digital were worth $8,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 399.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $3,900,000 after acquiring an additional 25,987 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 75.4% in the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 4,068 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,270,000. WESPAC Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $793,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $193,303,000 after purchasing an additional 282,156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total transaction of $235,699.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% 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. Insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $550.30 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.85 and a beta of 2.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $548.75 and a 200 day moving average of $368.57. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $64.16 and a 52 week high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Research chatter turned more constructive after Melius Research was reported as bullish on Western Digital, reinforcing the view that the company is a beneficiary of AI storage demand. Melius Research is Bullish on Western Digital Corporation (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted strong fundamentals and valuation support, including comments that WDC looks inexpensive on cash flow, has beaten earnings recently, and continues to benefit from rising AI-related storage demand. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Looks Cheap On Cash Flow But Rich On Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst expectations remain generally favorable, with multiple firms maintaining buy or outperform ratings and recent price targets clustered above current levels, including a fresh upgrade in target from Susquehanna. Western Digital had its price target raised by Susquehanna
• Neutral Sentiment: Market-wide headlines about the Nasdaq, Fed minutes, and broader tech rotation are adding noise to trading, but these are not specific to Western Digital’s fundamentals. Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Swings To Score A Win; Fed Minutes Show Split On Direction
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors are still wary after the recent memory-chip selloff tied to Samsung results, which pressured WDC and peers earlier in the week and could keep sentiment choppy. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Western Digital Corporation (WDC) is a Trending Stock

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $502.12.

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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