Axim Planning & Wealth bought a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Free Report) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,801 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $655,000. Western Digital comprises approximately 0.7% of Axim Planning & Wealth’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WDC. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter worth approximately $34,244,000. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. increased its position in Western Digital by 399.8% during the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,900,000 after buying an additional 25,987 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 75.4% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,778,000 after buying an additional 4,068 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,270,000. Finally, WESPAC Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $793,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.
Western Digital Trading Up 6.4%
Shares of WDC stock opened at $562.92 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $447.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.91. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.60 and a twelve month high of $602.54. The company has a market capitalization of $194.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.61 and a beta of 2.13.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.58%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
WDC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $488.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Western Digital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $443.71.
Get Our Latest Research Report on WDC
More Western Digital News
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Western Digital from $530 to $650 and reiterated an overweight rating, signaling more upside potential for the shares. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: The company announced a Sandisk share exchange with institutional investors, a move that has been interpreted as supportive of the stock and part of a broader capital strategy. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital highlighted AI-focused storage innovation at Computex, reinforcing the market’s view that it is well positioned to benefit from data-center and AI infrastructure spending. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts also pointed to strong free cash flow, a larger dividend, and a new $4 billion buyback plan, which supports the investment case by showing confidence in cash generation and shareholder returns. Article Title
- Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital has been outperforming the broader market over the past year, and brokerages still generally rate the stock a moderate buy, which supports sentiment but is more of a confirmation than a new catalyst. Article Title
- Negative Sentiment: One recent market note said WDC slipped with the broader market after a hotter-than-expected CPI report revived rate-hike concerns, showing that macro pressure can still weigh on the stock at times. Article Title
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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