DnB Asset Management AS Has $225.46 Million Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• DnB Asset Management AS reduced its stake in Western Digital by 27.9%, selling over 2 million shares and now holds approximately 1.0% of its portfolio in the company.
• Western Digital received multiple analyst upgrades, with Zacks upgrading it to "strong-buy" and UBS raising its price target significantly from $45 to $75.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share and plans for a $2.00 billion stock repurchase program, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

DnB Asset Management AS decreased its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 27.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,576,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 2,156,675 shares during the quarter. Western Digital comprises approximately 1.0% of DnB Asset Management AS's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. DnB Asset Management AS owned about 1.60% of Western Digital worth $225,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Western Digital by 34.1% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 11.7% in the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 0.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,395 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,835,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 17.0% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,059 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 36,301 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,165,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $53.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.28.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total transaction of $654,333.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 594,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,148,052.40. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total transaction of $1,051,930.26. Following the transaction, the insider owned 135,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,121,547.78. The trade was a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,975 shares of company stock valued at $3,935,806 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of WDC stock traded up $1.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $92.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,309,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,167,732. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $73.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $32.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.69. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $93.10.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to repurchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.