Private Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Free Report) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 18,135 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,583,000.
Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ares Financial Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% in the second quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $59,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $73,000. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. The trade was 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. Insiders have sold a total of 25,093 shares of company stock worth $11,650,737 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Western Digital Stock Performance
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. 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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Western Digital Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.48%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WDC. UBS Group dropped their target price on Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.
Key Western Digital News
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Sector rally supports WDC. SanDisk’s bullish long-term growth targets, including expectations for sustained flash-memory demand, boosted sentiment toward storage companies. Western Digital benefited from the read-through, particularly as investors anticipate continued AI infrastructure spending on HDD and NAND storage. SanDisk outlook article
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst and quantitative signals improved. Zacks upgraded Western Digital to Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” citing improving earnings prospects. WDC was also included among Zacks’ top momentum stocks, while JPMorgan reportedly raised its price target to $650. Zacks upgrade article
- Positive Sentiment: Recent results provide fundamental support. Western Digital’s latest quarter exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, with revenue rising 43.8% year over year. Stronger pricing, high-capacity drive demand and AI-driven storage requirements are supporting expectations for continued growth. WDC sector rally article
- Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning is mixed: JPMorgan and Capital World Investors added shares, while several large investors reduced holdings. The conflicting activity does not establish a clear institutional trend.
- Negative Sentiment: Elevated expectations remain a risk. Despite the earnings beat, WDC shares previously fell sharply because management’s guidance did not exceed demanding investor expectations. Concerns remain about moderating sequential growth, NAND pricing volatility and whether the AI-driven storage cycle has peaked. WDC earnings reaction article
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling may weigh on sentiment. CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares for approximately $8.9 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Broader data shows substantial insider selling and no reported insider purchases during the past six months. CEO insider sale article
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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