Diversify Wealth Management LLC Buys New Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Diversify Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 4,675 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,265,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $221,800,000. National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 267.6% in the 4th 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. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $512,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,661 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price target on Western Digital and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Western Digital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Western Digital from $685.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.32.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total value of $2,071,470.06. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC opened at $513.84 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $177.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $65.79 and a one year high of $799.87. The business’s fifty day moving average is $560.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $381.93.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. 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 business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.58%.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive on Western Digital, with one report suggesting the stock could still have meaningful upside from current levels thanks to improving memory pricing and AI-driven demand. Why Analysts Are Betting Western Digital Stock Can Gain Another 30% from Here
• Positive Sentiment: Several market commentary pieces argue that Western Digital and other memory stocks may look attractive after the recent sell-off because of lower valuations, better supply-demand trends, and ongoing AI-related storage demand. Why You Must Buy These 4 Memory Stocks After the Recent Sell-Off
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital’s upcoming earnings preview is drawing attention, but no new company-specific results were reported in these articles. Western Digital’s Quarterly Earnings Preview: What You Need to Know
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are being hit by broad profit-taking across memory stocks after a sharp rally this year, with traders locking in gains in Western Digital, Micron, SanDisk, and peers. SK Hynix Drops 5%, SanDisk Slides 6%, Western Digital Slips 4% as Traders Take Profits in Memory Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital also fell after CXMT’s reported $10 billion IPO plans raised fears of a stronger new competitor entering the memory market, adding to concerns about future pricing and margins. Western Digital Stock Tumbles as CXMT Targets $10 Billion Shanghai IPO
• Negative Sentiment: Another market wrap noted that Western Digital was down sharply as the broader chip selloff weighed on the memory sector. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Dips While Market Gains: Key Facts

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.