QRG Capital Management Inc. Buys 21,337 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,122 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,337 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $55,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 1.0% in the second quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 1.8% in the second quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 45.5% during the second quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 2.1% during the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WDC shares. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Summit Insights downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on 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, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC traded up $9.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $473.69. 5,025,378 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,587,244. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $105.42 and a twelve month high of $799.87. The company has a market cap of $163.27 billion, a PE ratio of 19.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $475.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $461.19.

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

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,650,465.80. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 25,437 shares of company stock worth $11,461,345 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) develops, manufactures and sells data storage products and solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises, businesses and consumers. Its portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs), including high-capacity enterprise drives used in cloud and data center environments, as well as products for network-attached storage, surveillance and personal computing.

The company markets products under brands including Western Digital, WD, WD_BLACK and Ultrastar.