Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Free Report) by 58.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 47,387 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,471 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $12,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its position in Western Digital by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. BOKF NA boosted its stake in Western Digital by 6,700.0% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insider Transactions at Western Digital
In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total value of $2,071,470.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 90,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. The trade was a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.
More Western Digital News
- Positive Sentiment: Micron’s earnings beat and guidance are lifting memory stocks, including Western Digital, on renewed optimism for the storage cycle.
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Western Digital favorably, with recent price targets clustering well above the broader market’s expectations.
- Positive Sentiment: Longer-term articles highlighted stronger customer buying patterns and contract shifts that could support a higher valuation for WDC. The Quiet Contract Shift Before Western Digital Stock’s Loud Re-Rating
Western Digital Trading Down 4.3%
NASDAQ:WDC opened at $641.73 on Thursday. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $62.13 and a twelve month high of $799.87. The company has a market cap of $221.19 billion, a PE ratio of 38.31 and a beta of 2.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $507.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $339.36.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.58%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research firms have issued reports on WDC. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Fox Advisors cut Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Western Digital from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $450.46.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Western Digital
About Western Digital
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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