Western Digital Corporation $WDC Position Raised by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services increased its stake in Western Digital by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, while institutional ownership remains very high at 92.51% of the stock.
• Western Digital reported better-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter, with EPS of $2.72 versus the $2.39 consensus and revenue of $3.34 billion, up 45.5% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share from $0.13, and analysts remain broadly positive with an average rating of Moderate Buy and a price target of $395.83.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 60,620 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 3,214 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $10,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,196,484,000 after buying an additional 243,177 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $791,317,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Western Digital by 11.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $456,884,000 after buying an additional 384,103 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Western Digital by 11.8% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,804,907 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $456,737,000 after buying an additional 402,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 4,923.9% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $409,049,000 after buying an additional 3,339,225 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $484.28 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $373.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $268.41. The firm has a market cap of $166.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.91 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.00 and a 52-week high of $525.15.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.Western Digital's revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,630.14. This represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,785 shares of company stock valued at $18,097,954. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. New Street Research set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $395.83.

About Western Digital

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WDC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.