Camarda Financial Advisors LLC Invests $4.01 Million in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Camarda Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,272 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,006,000. Western Digital makes up about 1.2% of Camarda Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on WDC. Wall Street Zen downgraded Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two equities 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, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s AI- and cloud-storage growth thesis remains intact. Industry momentum from AI infrastructure, cloud computing, the Internet of Things and automotive applications is supporting expectations for continued demand. 3 Storage Devices Stocks to Buy as the Industry Gains Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: A recent exchange of approximately $191 million of 3% convertible notes due 2028 is viewed as constructive liability management because it can reduce debt, although issuing shares may create some dilution. What’s Going on With Western Digital Stock on Wednesday?
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital recently reported revenue growth of 44% year over year to $3.75 billion and earnings of $3.56 per share, exceeding estimates. Its next-quarter earnings guidance of $3.85 to $4.15 per share also supports the bullish fundamental case.
• Positive Sentiment: Technical and analyst indicators remain favorable: a recent hammer chart pattern suggested potential support, while upward earnings-estimate revisions and a bullish Wall Street consensus point to possible longer-term recovery. Western Digital May Find a Bottom Soon

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at $47,366,060.96. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at $53,650,465.80. This trade represents 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. Insiders sold 26,117 shares of company stock valued at $12,053,353 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $462.00 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $77.90 and a 1 year high of $799.87. The company has a market cap of $159.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08 and a beta of 2.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $532.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $439.49.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.48%.

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.