Western Digital Corporation $WDC Stock Bought by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 103.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,415 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,248 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 182.6% in the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 65 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $540.00 price target on Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $900.00 price objective on Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.04.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC stock traded down $15.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $295.65. 4,794,037 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,012,382. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $132.43 and a 52 week high of $799.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 2.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $391.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $420.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.53. Western Digital had a net margin of 69.20% and a return on equity of 55.62%. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 23.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a $0.1750 dividend. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total value of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 80,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,052,185.77. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at $53,650,465.80. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,436 shares of company stock valued at $2,440,664. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) develops and supplies hard disk drives (HDDs) and related data-storage products. Its drives serve data centers and cloud providers, as well as businesses and consumers who need storage for computers, network-attached storage systems, surveillance and other applications. Its product brands include WD and Ultrastar. Founded in 1970, the company began as an electronics and semiconductor business before expanding into data storage. In February 2025, Western Digital completed the separation of its flash-memory business into the independently traded SanDisk Corporation, leaving Western Digital focused on HDDs.