Corient Private Wealth LP Makes New Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 52,489 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $33,527,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth about $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $456,884,000 after acquiring an additional 384,103 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $512,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,809,409 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $483,977,000 after purchasing an additional 159,167 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s AI- and cloud-storage growth thesis remains intact. Industry momentum from AI infrastructure, cloud computing, the Internet of Things and automotive applications is supporting expectations for continued demand. 3 Storage Devices Stocks to Buy as the Industry Gains Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: A recent exchange of approximately $191 million of 3% convertible notes due 2028 is viewed as constructive liability management because it can reduce debt, although issuing shares may create some dilution. What’s Going on With Western Digital Stock on Wednesday?
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital recently reported revenue growth of 44% year over year to $3.75 billion and earnings of $3.56 per share, exceeding estimates. Its next-quarter earnings guidance of $3.85 to $4.15 per share also supports the bullish fundamental case.
• Positive Sentiment: Technical and analyst indicators remain favorable: a recent hammer chart pattern suggested potential support, while upward earnings-estimate revisions and a bullish Wall Street consensus point to possible longer-term recovery. Western Digital May Find a Bottom Soon

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WDC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Fox Advisors downgraded shares of Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Western Digital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $462.00 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $77.90 and a 52 week high of $799.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08 and a beta of 2.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $532.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $439.49.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 112,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 26,117 shares of company stock valued at $12,053,353 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.