Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 47.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 491,294 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 445,019 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $58,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 124.5% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 207.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.6%

WDC stock opened at $266.22 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.26 billion, a PE ratio of 26.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a fifty day moving average of $249.83 and a 200-day moving average of $175.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $309.90.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion for 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 revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 121,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,643,630.14. This trade represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total value of $2,743,105.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 107,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,137,796.14. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 92,795 shares of company stock valued at $24,265,884. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $306.00 price target on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.58.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Management is publicly targeting >50% gross margins and EPS north of $20 (management called $20+ a floor), comments that underpin a higher‑profitability narrative and support valuation. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) Sets Sights on 50%+ Gross Margin and EPS $20+
• Positive Sentiment: WDC has completed the pivot to a pure HDD company, reporting long‑term supply deals with hyperscale cloud customers, production capacity fully committed through 2026 and agreements extending to 2028 — a revenue visibility and cash‑flow positive development after the Flash divestiture and a $3.1B stake sale/debt reduction. Western Digital Bets On Pure HDD Future Tied To Hyperscale Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts (Zacks, Wells Fargo coverage referenced) are highlighting the storage sector pullback as a buying opportunity given rising AI/cloud storage demand; this analyst tone can lift investor sentiment and provide multiple catalysts for further upside. The Zacks Analyst Blog Western Digital, Seagate Technology and Sandisk
• Neutral Sentiment: WDC is drawing heightened retail/investor attention (rising search and coverage), which can increase short‑term volatility and volume — useful for liquidity but mixed for directional certainty. Investors Heavily Search Western Digital Corporation (WDC): Here is What You Need to Know
• Neutral Sentiment: The breakout performance of spun‑off SanDisk (SNDK) — now a multi‑bagger — is drawing headlines and investor capital; this can be a distraction or a positive signal for storage demand, depending on whether investors view WDC’s HDD focus as the better play. 5 Reasons Why Sandisk Can Rise Another 1,500%
• Negative Sentiment: An insider (Vidyadhara K. Gubbi) sold 8,518 shares at an average $255.32 (~7.9% reduction of that holding), a disclosure that can create short‑term selling pressure or prompt investor questions about timing and motives. SEC filing

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.