Western Digital Corporation $WDC Position Increased by Vise Technologies Inc.

Key Points

• Vise Technologies increased its Western Digital stake by 54.9% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 21,679 shares valued at approximately $9.85 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of $4.38 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $4.64, beating estimates, while forecasting about $5.1 billion in next-quarter revenue and $5.80 in EPS amid strong AI-related storage demand.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $591.04, although targets were mixed and company insiders sold more than $11.3 million of stock over the past three months.

Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 54.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,679 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,682 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $9,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 182.6% in the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 65 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total value of $825,466.65. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,052,185.77. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,436 shares of company stock worth $11,340,064. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Western Digital from $900.00 to $625.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $740.00 to $660.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $591.04.

Western Digital News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue of $4.38 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $4.64 and free cash flow of $1.38 billion, exceeding expectations. Management also forecast approximately $5.1 billion in fiscal second-quarter revenue and $5.80 in non-GAAP EPS, signaling continued strength in AI-related data-center storage demand. Western Digital slides as strong results fail to calm spending and sector worries
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst targets remain well above the current trading level, with Quiver Quantitative citing a six-month median target of $650. Several analysts view Western Digital as a major beneficiary of AI infrastructure expansion and rising demand for high-capacity nearline hard drives. Western Digital selloff and analyst targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital and Seagate are both benefiting from AI data-center spending. However, comparisons favor Seagate on some metrics, including return on equity, valuation and free-cash-flow generation, potentially affecting investor preference within the storage group. Seagate versus Western Digital
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are questioning whether AI infrastructure spending and lofty storage-sector valuations can remain sustainable. A sharp decline in Sandisk and weakness across memory and semiconductor stocks amplified pressure on WDC, even after Sandisk delivered strong results and raised guidance. Memory-sector selloff
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly capital spending of $227 million, continued buybacks and capacity and technology-transition needs have raised concerns about cash demands and future returns. Profit-taking after WDC’s substantial earlier advance may also be contributing to the decline. Quiver also reports 110 insider sales and no insider purchases over the past six months, an additional sentiment headwind. Western Digital spending and insider activity

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $366.11 on Monday. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $132.43 and a 1-year high of $799.87. The business's 50-day moving average price is $421.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $416.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 2.27.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 55.62% and a net margin of 69.20%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 23.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.1750 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is 2.33%.

Western Digital Profile

Western Digital Corporation NASDAQ: WDC is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.

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