Westpac Banking Corp Buys New Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp initiated a $13.2 million position in Western Digital during the second quarter, purchasing 20,712 shares. Institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of WDC.
• Western Digital reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.56 versus the $3.31 consensus and revenue up 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $534.56, although some firms recently downgraded the stock. Insiders have sold roughly $11.5 million of shares over the past 90 days.

Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 20,712 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,229,000. Western Digital makes up about 0.8% of Westpac Banking Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TRB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $878,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,985,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $4,226,000. Korea Investment CORP purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $172,397,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth $10,195,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 24,679 shares of company stock worth $11,451,605 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Fox Advisors downgraded shares of Western Digital from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered Western Digital from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $459.44 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $74.57 and a 12-month high of $799.87. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $552.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $433.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 2.14.

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

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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

Western Digital Company 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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