Western Digital Corporation $WDC Stock: Americana Partners LLC Trims Holdings

Key Points

• Americana Partners cut its Western Digital stake by 79% in the third quarter, selling 19,917 shares and retaining 5,287 shares worth approximately $2.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital reported quarterly revenue of $4.38 billion and EPS of $4.64, beating analyst expectations, while revenue increased 55.5% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.175 per share.
• Despite strong results and AI-driven storage demand, the stock opened down 7.4% at $366.11 amid sector concerns and insider selling. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $591.04.

Americana Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 79.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,287 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 19,917 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 182.6% during the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 65 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Summit Insights cut shares of Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on Western Digital from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $540.00 price objective on Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $900.00 price target on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $591.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 80,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,052,185.77. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,436 shares of company stock valued at $11,340,064. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue of $4.38 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $4.64 and free cash flow of $1.38 billion, exceeding expectations. Management also forecast approximately $5.1 billion in fiscal second-quarter revenue and $5.80 in non-GAAP EPS, signaling continued strength in AI-related data-center storage demand. Western Digital slides as strong results fail to calm spending and sector worries
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst targets remain well above the current trading level, with Quiver Quantitative citing a six-month median target of $650. Several analysts view Western Digital as a major beneficiary of AI infrastructure expansion and rising demand for high-capacity nearline hard drives. Western Digital selloff and analyst targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital and Seagate are both benefiting from AI data-center spending. However, comparisons favor Seagate on some metrics, including return on equity, valuation and free-cash-flow generation, potentially affecting investor preference within the storage group. Seagate versus Western Digital
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are questioning whether AI infrastructure spending and lofty storage-sector valuations can remain sustainable. A sharp decline in Sandisk and weakness across memory and semiconductor stocks amplified pressure on WDC, even after Sandisk delivered strong results and raised guidance. Memory-sector selloff
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly capital spending of $227 million, continued buybacks and capacity and technology-transition needs have raised concerns about cash demands and future returns. Profit-taking after WDC’s substantial earlier advance may also be contributing to the decline. Quiver also reports 110 insider sales and no insider purchases over the past six months, an additional sentiment headwind. Western Digital spending and insider activity

Western Digital Stock Down 7.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $366.11 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $421.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $416.75. The company has a market cap of $137.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $132.43 and a 12-month high of $799.87.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 55.62% and a net margin of 69.20%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 23.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

About Western Digital

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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