Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired 17,736 shares of Western Digital Corporation, valued at approximately $1,135,000, during the 2nd quarter.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of Western Digital's shares, indicating strong institutional support for the company.
• Western Digital has seen recent upgrades in ratings from several research firms, with a target price increase from $78.00 to $90.00 by Wedbush, reflecting positive analyst sentiment.

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 17,736 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,135,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,938,495 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,736,003,000 after buying an additional 478,728 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 130.0% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $203,337,000 after acquiring an additional 2,842,822 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 23.7% during 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 valued at $273,852,000 after buying an additional 881,088 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $139,476,000 after purchasing an additional 52,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 107.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $136,222,000 after buying an additional 1,742,481 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ WDC traded up $1.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $106.63. 11,026,533 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,291,884. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $107.18. The company has a market cap of $37.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.69. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $80.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.13.

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

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Western Digital from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total value of $1,051,930.26. Following the transaction, the insider owned 135,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,121,547.78. The trade was a 9.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total value of $654,333.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 594,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,148,052.40. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 49,730 shares of company stock worth $3,921,594. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.