Verus Capital Partners LLC Makes New $269,000 Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Verus Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,240 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 124.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 551.4% in the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 207.0% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $9,616,638.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.70, for a total transaction of $86,763.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 134,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,961,610.30. The trade was a 0.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 67,392 shares of company stock valued at $17,235,141 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $270.57 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $231.97 and a 200-day moving average of $162.41. The firm has a market cap of $91.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $309.90.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.77 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $240.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Western Digital from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $265.58.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness: multiple firms have recently reiterated Buy/Overweight ratings and raised targets, supporting demand and investor conviction. Zacks: Analysts See WDC as a Buy
• Positive Sentiment: AI/data-center demand: media and analyst write-ups highlight that WDC has massively outperformed the market this year as hyperscale AI customers drive HDD capacity demand and long-term contracts. TipRanks: Western Digital Has Massively Outpaced S&P 500
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend disclosed: WDC announced a small quarterly dividend (annualized $0.50, low yield), a minor supportive signal for income-focused holders but not a major catalyst. MarketBeat: WDC Dividend & Metrics
• Neutral Sentiment: SanDisk split retrospectives: coverage noting last year’s SanDisk breakup helped market clarity — a structural positive for WDC’s valuation over time but not an immediate driver. MarketWatch: Why SanDisk’s Split Has Been a Win
• Negative Sentiment: SanDisk stake exit / secondary offering: reports that WDC is exiting most of its remaining SanDisk stake via a large secondary offering and debt-for-equity moves have raised concerns about added share supply and focus on balance-sheet cleanup rather than repurchases. That news is a key near-term headwind. Yahoo Finance: Western Digital Doubles Down On AI Data Centers And Cleaner Balance Sheet
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction to SanDisk sell-offs: coverage of WDC selling its SanDisk stake has prompted selling pressure and investor questions on dilution/timing. Barchart: Western Digital Is Selling SanDisk Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sales: Cynthia L. Tregillis sold small blocks (~438 shares across Feb. 23–24). The size is immaterial relative to her holdings, but such filings can amplify negative sentiment on a down day. SEC Filing: Insider Sales (Cynthia L. Tregillis)

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.