NewEdge Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 25.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,460 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 7,937 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $6,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CI Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 1,356.6% during the 1st quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 28,914 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $7,821,000 after acquiring an additional 26,929 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 231.1% in the 1st quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 20,720 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,605,000 after purchasing an additional 14,462 shares during the period. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $22,476,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 77.1% in the 1st quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 31,429 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $8,501,000 after purchasing an additional 13,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABN Amro Investment Solutions grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 19.5% during the first quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 20,683 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,595,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital
In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,959 shares of company stock worth $12,631,666. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on Western Digital from $685.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $520.32.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on WDC
Western Digital Price Performance
Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $558.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $192.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.33 and a beta of 2.11. The stock's 50-day moving average is $564.15 and its 200-day moving average is $396.20. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $66.51 and a one year high of $799.87.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 3.58%.
More Western Digital News
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital has reentered merger discussions with Kioxia, reviving speculation about a combination that could create a larger NAND flash memory player and unlock value from its flash assets.
- Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlight Western Digital as a beneficiary of strong AI-related storage demand and tight memory supply, which is boosting sentiment across the memory sector.
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary says Western Digital looks reasonable on earnings and inexpensive on cash flow, suggesting the stock may still have upside even after a big multi-year rally.
- Positive Sentiment: A report comparing WDC with Super Micro said Western Digital’s AI storage focus and stronger financial footing make it an appealing AI hardware play.
- Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage from the sector noted that memory stocks, including Western Digital, jumped after Morgan Stanley projected memory prices could rise at least 25% from Q2 to Q3, reinforcing expectations for stronger margins and profits.
- Neutral Sentiment: One article framed Western Digital as a stock with a large valuation gap versus DCF-based fair value, reflecting optimism but also implying the recent rally has already priced in some of the good news. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Looks Reasonable On Earnings While Cash Flow Looks Cheap
- Neutral Sentiment: Another piece simply referenced Western Digital in a broader list of AI stocks to buy on dips, adding to the bullish narrative but not providing a new company-specific catalyst.
Western Digital Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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