NorthRock Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 7,585 Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• NorthRock Partners LLC acquired 7,585 shares of Western Digital Corporation (~$485,000) in Q2 2023.
• Wall Street analysts have increased their target prices for Western Digital, with Bank of America raising it from $123 to $141, and Citigroup from $110 to $135, maintaining a strong interest in the stock.
• Western Digital announced a recent quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, amounting to an annualized dividend yield of 0.3%.

NorthRock Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 7,585 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $485,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Western Digital by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $40,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 242.2% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in Western Digital by 91.2% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,279 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on WDC. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $123.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Citigroup raised their target price on Western Digital from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Western Digital to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 3,160 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $239,148.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,388,460.80. This trade represents a 9.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total value of $1,051,930.26. Following the sale, the insider owned 135,351 shares in the company, valued at $10,121,547.78. This trade represents a 9.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,730 shares of company stock worth $3,921,594. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $120.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $41.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.77. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $97.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.48. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $137.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

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.

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