NewEdge Wealth LLC Sells 7,937 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

NewEdge Wealth LLC trimmed its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 25.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,460 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 7,937 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $6,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,019 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 229.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 55.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,959 shares of company stock valued at $12,631,666. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.3%

Western Digital stock opened at $558.30 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $564.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $396.20. The stock has a market cap of $192.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.33 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $66.51 and a twelve month high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital has reentered merger discussions with Kioxia, reviving speculation about a combination that could create a larger NAND flash memory player and unlock value from its flash assets.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlight Western Digital as a beneficiary of strong AI-related storage demand and tight memory supply, which is boosting sentiment across the memory sector.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary says Western Digital looks reasonable on earnings and inexpensive on cash flow, suggesting the stock may still have upside even after a big multi-year rally.
• Positive Sentiment: A report comparing WDC with Super Micro said Western Digital’s AI storage focus and stronger financial footing make it an appealing AI hardware play.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage from the sector noted that memory stocks, including Western Digital, jumped after Morgan Stanley projected memory prices could rise at least 25% from Q2 to Q3, reinforcing expectations for stronger margins and profits.
• Neutral Sentiment: One article framed Western Digital as a stock with a large valuation gap versus DCF-based fair value, reflecting optimism but also implying the recent rally has already priced in some of the good news. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Looks Reasonable On Earnings While Cash Flow Looks Cheap
• Neutral Sentiment: Another piece simply referenced Western Digital in a broader list of AI stocks to buy on dips, adding to the bullish narrative but not providing a new company-specific catalyst.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Western Digital from $685.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.32.

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.