Commerce Bank Takes Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Commerce Bank bought a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 16,831 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,750,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth $221,800,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $885,565,000. Finally, Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $350,403,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $459.44 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $552.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $434.46. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $74.57 and a 12-month high of $799.87. The company has a market cap of $158.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price target on Western Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $534.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 24,679 shares of company stock valued at $11,451,605 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital 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.