Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Bought by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual increased its Western Digital stake by 65.7% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 42,118 shares valued at approximately $26.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital reported quarterly EPS of $3.56, exceeding estimates of $3.31, while revenue rose 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $534.56.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, equivalent to a $0.60 annualized dividend and a 0.1% yield. Insiders, including CEO Irving Tan, sold shares during the quarter under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 65.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 42,118 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 16,694 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $26,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Western Digital by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $456,884,000 after purchasing an additional 384,103 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $512,107,000 after buying an additional 1,228,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,809,409 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $483,977,000 after buying an additional 159,167 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WDC. Summit Insights downgraded Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $676.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $450.44 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $155.26 billion, a PE ratio of 18.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 2.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $516.94 and a 200 day moving average of $443.28. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $77.90 and a 1 year high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The firm's revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.48%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was 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 owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% 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 quarter, insiders have sold 23,642 shares of company stock valued at $10,676,659. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Profile

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.

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