Florida Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Free Report) by 26.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,455 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,602 shares during the quarter. Western Digital makes up approximately 0.8% of Florida Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Florida Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Avion Wealth boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, BOKF NA increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms recently weighed in on WDC. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Western Digital from $685.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.32.
Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from a rebound in memory stocks as investors step back in after last week’s selloff, improving sentiment across the semiconductor group. Micron Jumps 5%, SanDisk Rises 6%, Western Digital Climbs 4% as Memory Stocks Rebound With Chips
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s view that the memory-stock selloff created a strong entry point is encouraging dip-buying in Western Digital and other chip names. The Memory Stock Sell-Off Created a ‘Strong Entry Point,’ Says Morgan Stanley. Investors Are Buying In.
- Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital Malaysia was recognized for advancing sustainable AI infrastructure, which supports the company’s AI narrative but is unlikely to be the main stock-moving catalyst today. WD Malaysia Recognized for Advancing Sustainable AI Infrastructure
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total transaction of $235,699.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% 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 have sold 28,959 shares of company stock worth $12,631,666. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.
Western Digital Stock Up 2.1%
Western Digital stock opened at $487.42 on Tuesday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $66.04 and a 52-week high of $799.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $560.32 and its 200 day moving average is $388.23. The company has a market cap of $168.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.10 and a beta of 2.11.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 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 period last year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. The business’s 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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 3.58%.
Western Digital 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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