Northern Trust Corp Raises Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Western Digital by 1.5%, owning approximately 0.99% of the company, valued at $139.5 million.
• Several brokerages have raised their price targets for Western Digital, with Citigroup increasing theirs from $78.00 to $88.00 and giving it a "buy" rating.
• Western Digital announced a $0.10 quarterly dividend and has authorized a $2 billion share repurchase plan, indicating confidence in its stock value.

Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,449,811 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 52,140 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.99% of Western Digital worth $139,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,938,495 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,736,003,000 after purchasing an additional 478,728 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,592,516 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $273,852,000 after purchasing an additional 881,088 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Western Digital by 107.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $136,222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,481 shares in the last quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP grew its stake in Western Digital by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 2,967,900 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $176,976,000 after acquiring an additional 937,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Western Digital by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,933,278 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $118,574,000 after acquiring an additional 216,387 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WDC. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total transaction of $654,333.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 594,836 shares in the company, valued at $45,148,052.40. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 5,597 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.26, for a total value of $426,827.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 154,679 shares in the company, valued at $11,795,820.54. The trade was a 3.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,139 shares of company stock valued at $1,485,812 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $76.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.58. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $78.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company's 50-day moving average is $68.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.96.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The company's revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. Research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.