Trek Financial LLC decreased its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Free Report) by 95.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 632 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 13,794 shares during the quarter. Trek Financial LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its holdings in Western Digital by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 304,542 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $138,344,000 after buying an additional 4,891 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 6.5% during the third quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 12,780 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,808,000 after buying an additional 779 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Western Digital by 1.1% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,382 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,446,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter worth $139,216,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd increased its position in Western Digital by 16.2% during the third quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd now owns 430 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.
Western Digital News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Memory stocks recovered some of Monday’s losses after a cautious outlook from Kioxia weighed on the group; Western Digital joined the rebound, providing a near-term tailwind for WDC. SanDisk Surges as Memory Stocks Rebound
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital raised its quarterly dividend nearly 17% to $0.175 per share. The increase follows a strong fiscal first quarter, with revenue up 55% and adjusted earnings up 161% year over year. Western Digital Raises Its Dividend
- Neutral Sentiment: Cloud customers generated 88% of revenue, with cloud sales growing 54%. That reflects strong storage demand, but also leaves WDC particularly exposed to spending by a concentrated customer segment. Western Digital’s Cloud Revenue Share
- Negative Sentiment: A report on Jim Cramer’s comparison favored Micron over Western Digital, which may underscore competition for investor attention as AI-related memory demand attracts interest. Micron vs. Western Digital
- Negative Sentiment: A Western Digital director sold 18.7% of their stake under a preset plan. The planned nature of the sale may temper its significance, but insider selling can still draw investor notice. Western Digital Director Sells Shares
Western Digital Stock Performance
Shares of WDC stock opened at $347.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $417.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $418.03. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $132.43 and a 52-week high of $799.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.27.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.53. Western Digital had a return on equity of 55.62% and a net margin of 69.20%. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 23.62 EPS for the current year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 2.33%.
Insider Transactions at Western Digital
In other news, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares in the company, valued at $37,052,185.77. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,436 shares of company stock worth $11,340,064. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WDC. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $540.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $668.00 target price on shares of Western Digital and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Argus cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $600.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Mizuho set a $490.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.04.
Western Digital Company 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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