Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 39.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 184,287 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 119,930 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Western Digital worth $49,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 853.8% during the first quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 124 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 132 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 80.2% during the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Down 4.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $497.92 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $565.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $400.49. The stock has a market cap of $171.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $68.67 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 28,959 shares of company stock valued at $12,631,666 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Western Digital from $685.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $560.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $520.32.

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.