Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its holdings in Western Digital Corporation by 39.1%, selling over 3.5 million shares in the first quarter.
• Western Digital has authorized a $2 billion stock buyback plan, indicating leadership believes the shares are undervalued.
• The company recently reported a 30% increase in revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share of $1.66, surpassing estimates by $0.18.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD decreased its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 39.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,503,204 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 3,530,601 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 1.58% of Western Digital worth $222,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 107.1% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth $68,950,000. Atalan Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth $62,612,000. Sachem Head Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 2,967,900 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $176,976,000 after purchasing an additional 937,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park West Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth $55,456,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 5,597 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.26, for a total value of $426,827.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 154,679 shares in the company, valued at $11,795,820.54. The trade was a 3.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total value of $654,333.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 594,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,148,052.40. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,139 shares of company stock worth $1,485,812 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $76.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $78.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $68.70 and a 200 day moving average of $54.89. The stock has a market cap of $26.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.58.

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

Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.39.

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.

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