Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 9,141 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 9.0%, owning a total of 110,975 shares worth approximately $4.49 million.
• Western Digital reported earnings of $1.66 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and showing a 30% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, which will be paid on September 18th, with a current dividend yield of 0.5%.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,975 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 9,141 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas boosted its stake in Western Digital by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,817 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Western Digital by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,395 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,835,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 14,330 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $854,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock traded down $1.1810 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.6790. 2,721,749 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,883,927. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.66. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $78.80. The company has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

Western Digital declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on WDC shares. Summit Insights upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Western Digital from $53.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen started coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total value of $94,887.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 5,597 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.26, for a total value of $426,827.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 154,679 shares in the company, valued at $11,795,820.54. This represents a 3.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,518 shares of company stock worth $831,479 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital 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.