Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Takes Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Weatherly Asset Management has acquired a new position in Western Digital Corporation, purchasing 3,814 shares valued at approximately $244,000 during the second quarter.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Western Digital, with Citigroup and Mizuho increasing their targets to $110.00 and $120.00 respectively, indicating a favorable outlook for the company.
• Western Digital reported strong quarterly earnings, exceeding expectations with earnings of $1.66 per share and revenue of $2.61 billion, marking a 30% year-over-year increase.

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,814 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.1% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in Western Digital by 130.0% during the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $203,337,000 after buying an additional 2,842,822 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew 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 worth $139,476,000 after purchasing an additional 52,140 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 107.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $136,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 8.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,933,278 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $118,574,000 after buying an additional 216,387 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider owned 151,596 shares in the company, valued at $13,687,602.84. This trade represents a 6.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 594,836 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 49,730 shares of company stock worth $3,921,594 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:WDC traded up $1.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $106.63. 11,026,533 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,517,338. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $107.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $80.13 and a 200 day moving average of $59.35. The stock has a market cap of $37.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.69.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued 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 yield of 0.4%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on WDC shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $53.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.68.

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.