St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC Sells 6,483 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 34.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,184 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 6,483 shares during the period. Western Digital comprises 4.0% of St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $7,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its position in 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 worth $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at $221,800,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $350,403,000. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in Western Digital by 267.6% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,691,659 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $291,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231,477 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $451.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $155.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65 and a beta of 2.14. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $73.14 and a one year high of $799.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $567.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $417.23.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a return on equity of 50.22% and a net margin of 72.95%.The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 17.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 3.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WDC. Mizuho set a $590.00 price objective on Western Digital in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $536.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,093 shares of company stock worth $2,751,337. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported adjusted earnings of $3.56 per share, above the $3.31 consensus estimate, while revenue increased 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion, also exceeding forecasts. Western Digital Q4 Earnings Beat as Revenue Jumps 44% on Cloud Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Management cited strong cloud and AI-related storage demand, pricing gains and adoption of higher-capacity products. The company said some AI customers are negotiating storage capacity commitments through 2031, providing long-term demand visibility. Western Digital Says AI Customers Are Already Negotiating Storage Deals Through 2031
• Positive Sentiment: Fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue guidance of $4.0 billion to $4.2 billion and adjusted EPS guidance of $3.85 to $4.15 were above consensus estimates. Several analysts maintained bullish views, including Baird, which raised its price target to $630. Western Digital Earns Buy Rating as Analyst Lifts Price Target to $630

About Western Digital

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.