Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Bought by Maxi Investments CY Ltd

Key Points

• Maxi Investments CY Ltd increased its Western Digital stake by 121.9% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 7,100 shares valued at approximately $3.23 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital reported quarterly EPS of $4.64, surpassing estimates by $0.53, while revenue rose 55.5% year over year to $4.38 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend 16.7% to $0.175 per share.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $591.04, despite several recent target reductions. Management and analysts cited strong AI, cloud-storage demand and improving storage pricing as key catalysts.

Maxi Investments CY Ltd boosted its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 121.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,100 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 3,900 shares during the period. Maxi Investments CY Ltd's holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,602,927,000. Anther Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $901,601,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $885,565,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at about $350,403,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,146,133 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $310,018,000 after acquiring an additional 153,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $356.13 on Tuesday. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $121.85 and a 1 year high of $799.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $429.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $413.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 55.62% and a net margin of 69.20%. Western Digital's quarterly revenue was up 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,436 shares of company stock valued at $11,340,064. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: A Bank of America note said memory customers are locking in supply for multiple years, lifting the broader memory and storage group. Western Digital benefited alongside Micron and SanDisk as investors anticipated stronger pricing and demand. Bank of America memory-market article
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital CEO Irving Tan said AI-related storage demand could grow about 25% annually and expressed confidence that the company can expand margins despite data-center cost concerns. Western Digital CEO AI-demand article
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its quarterly dividend by 16.7% following strong fiscal first-quarter results, reinforcing the case for improving cash generation. Western Digital dividend increase article
• Positive Sentiment: Argus maintained a Buy rating despite lowering its price target to $500, while several bullish analyses cited strong earnings, robust cloud demand and favorable storage pricing. Argus Western Digital rating

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Western Digital from $730.00 to $450.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 16th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on Western Digital from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Mizuho set a $490.00 target price on Western Digital in a research report on Friday. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $591.04.

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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