Park Avenue Securities LLC decreased its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Free Report) by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,792 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 3,866 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $14,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,602,927,000. ABS Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $1,226,342,000. Anther Capital Ltd bought a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $901,601,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $885,565,000. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $627,606,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $900.00 to $625.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $730.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho set a $490.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.04.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Western Digital
Western Digital Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $380.88 on Wednesday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $121.85 and a 52 week high of $799.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $426.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $413.96.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 20.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.1750 per share. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th.
More Western Digital News
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s fiscal first-quarter results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $4.64 per share versus the $4.11 consensus and revenue of $4.38 billion versus $4.14 billion expected. Revenue increased 55.5% year over year. Western Digital Corporation 2027 Q1 Results Earnings Call Presentation
- Positive Sentiment: The company recently raised its quarterly dividend by 16.7%, adding to the shareholder-return case after its strong earnings report. Western Digital Raises Dividend Following Strong Earnings
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators point to surging hard-disk-drive demand, higher pricing and expanding AI workloads as factors supporting stronger fiscal second-quarter revenue, margins and earnings expectations. Zacks also upgraded WDC to a Rank #2, or “Buy.” WDC Fiscal Q2 Forecast Improves
- Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital’s CEO said AI storage demand could grow about 25% annually, while the company expects expanding margins. However, investors remain focused on whether demand and pricing can remain durable through the storage cycle. Western Digital CEO Discusses AI Storage Demand
- Negative Sentiment: WDC is declining after hours in sympathy with Seagate, whose results apparently raised concerns about storage-sector demand, supply or future cyclicality. The read-through is weighing on Western Digital despite its own positive earnings outlook. Western Digital Stock Slides After Hours
- Negative Sentiment: Argus lowered its price target from $600 to $500, citing valuation or sector risks, although it maintained a “Buy” rating. Other commentary also flags potential oversupply and cyclicality following WDC’s substantial multi-year rally.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction, the insider owned 80,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,052,185.77. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,436 shares of company stock valued at $11,340,064. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.
Western Digital Profile
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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