Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Key Points

• Gateway Investment Advisers LLC reduced its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 14.6%, selling 17,598 shares and holding 102,706 shares worth approximately $6.57 million.
• Western Digital recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.4%, with a payout ratio of 7.77%.
• The stock experienced a decrease of 2.1% and has a current market cap of $35.22 billion, after reporting earnings of $1.66 per share, exceeding analyst expectations.

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC cut its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 102,706 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 17,598 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $6,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,938,495 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,736,003,000 after buying an additional 478,728 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 130.0% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $203,337,000 after purchasing an additional 2,842,822 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,592,516 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $273,852,000 after purchasing an additional 881,088 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Western Digital by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $139,476,000 after purchasing an additional 52,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 107.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $136,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,481 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total transaction of $1,051,930.26. Following the sale, the insider owned 135,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,121,547.78. The trade was a 9.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total transaction of $654,333.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 594,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,148,052.40. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,730 shares of company stock worth $3,921,594 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC traded up $1.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $106.63. The stock had a trading volume of 11,026,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,291,884. 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 capitalization of $37.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.69. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $107.18. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.23.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WDC. 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. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Western Digital to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.68.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.