Laraway Financial Advisors Inc Takes $2.14 Million Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Laraway Financial Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,350 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,140,000. Western Digital comprises about 1.3% of Laraway Financial Advisors Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. BOKF NA raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 85,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,366,060.96. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 25,093 shares of company stock valued at $11,650,737 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 4.4%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $508.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $556.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $425.47. The stock has a market cap of $175.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 2.14. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $73.14 and a twelve month high of $799.87.

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 firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. Western Digital’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.48%.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Sector rally supports WDC. SanDisk’s bullish long-term growth targets, including expectations for sustained flash-memory demand, boosted sentiment toward storage companies. Western Digital benefited from the read-through, particularly as investors anticipate continued AI infrastructure spending on HDD and NAND storage. SanDisk outlook article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and quantitative signals improved. Zacks upgraded Western Digital to Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” citing improving earnings prospects. WDC was also included among Zacks’ top momentum stocks, while JPMorgan reportedly raised its price target to $650. Zacks upgrade article
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results provide fundamental support. Western Digital’s latest quarter exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, with revenue rising 43.8% year over year. Stronger pricing, high-capacity drive demand and AI-driven storage requirements are supporting expectations for continued growth. WDC sector rally article
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning is mixed: JPMorgan and Capital World Investors added shares, while several large investors reduced holdings. The conflicting activity does not establish a clear institutional trend.
• Negative Sentiment: Elevated expectations remain a risk. Despite the earnings beat, WDC shares previously fell sharply because management’s guidance did not exceed demanding investor expectations. Concerns remain about moderating sequential growth, NAND pricing volatility and whether the AI-driven storage cycle has peaked. WDC earnings reaction article
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling may weigh on sentiment. CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares for approximately $8.9 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Broader data shows substantial insider selling and no reported insider purchases during the past six months. CEO insider sale article

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 target price on shares of Western Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.

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.