Swedbank AB Grows Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Western Digital by 11.6%, purchasing an additional 23,519 shares, bringing its total to 225,958 shares valued at approximately $14.46 million.
• Western Digital reported earnings of $1.66 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and demonstrating a 30% year-over-year revenue growth with revenues of $2.61 billion.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Western Digital, with Bank of America increasing its target from $100 to $123, indicating a broad consensus of a “Moderate Buy” rating from investment analysts.

Swedbank AB increased its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 11.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 225,958 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 23,519 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 0.06% of Western Digital worth $14,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 34.1% in the first 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 bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 242.2% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 91.2% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,279 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $53.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Seventeen investment 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 stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.68.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC stock traded up $5.78 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $112.41. 9,679,566 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,002,926. The company has a market capitalization of $39.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.69. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $112.83. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $80.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The business's revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. On average, equities research 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 was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 3,160 shares of Western Digital 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. The trade was a 9.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total transaction of $1,024,159.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 151,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,687,602.84. The trade was a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,921,594 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.