Quantbot Technologies LP Makes New Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies initiated an 8,435-share Western Digital position worth approximately $5.4 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of WDC.
• Western Digital reported quarterly EPS of $3.56, beating estimates by $0.25, while revenue rose 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion. The company issued first-quarter 2027 EPS guidance of $3.85–$4.15.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $534.56, although some firms recently downgraded the stock or reduced their targets. The company also declared a $0.15 quarterly dividend, while insiders have sold more than $11.4 million in shares over the past 90 days.

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,435 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,388,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Evolve Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $3,344,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $35,321,000. Emerald Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $11,379,000. Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $13,229,000. Finally, TRB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $878,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $459.44 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $74.57 and a one year high of $799.87. The firm has a market cap of $158.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 2.14. The stock's 50-day moving average is $552.24 and its 200-day moving average is $433.31.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.Western Digital's revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WDC. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $676.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Fox Advisors downgraded shares of Western Digital from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Western Digital from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.56.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,679 shares of company stock valued at $11,451,605. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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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