Dearborn Partners LLC Takes $868,000 Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,208 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $868,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in 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 during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.8% during the second quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Ares Financial Consulting LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% during the second 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 period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $888,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays increased their price target on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $534.56.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $3.56 per share, revenue of $3.75 billion and year-over-year revenue growth of approximately 44%. Analysts say accelerating AI and cloud-storage demand, improving margins and the planned ramp of 40TB drives and HAMR technology support the company’s fiscal 2027 outlook. WDC’s Strong Q4 Raises the Stakes for Its Fiscal 2027 Product Ramp
• Positive Sentiment: Some commentary continues to view WDC as attractively positioned for growth because AI data centers require increasing storage capacity. However, the bullish case depends on successful product execution and sustained cloud spending. Western Digital: Time To Jump In Before Beast Mode Arrives Again
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital will participate in Citi’s 2026 Global TMT Conference on September 9. Management’s presentation could provide additional commentary on demand, pricing and the fiscal 2027 product ramp, but the announcement itself contains no new financial guidance. WD to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Cynthia L. Tregillis sold a combined 919 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sales represent a small reduction in her holdings and are less significant as a bearish signal because they were scheduled in advance. SEC insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Investors have rotated out of high-performing AI-chip and memory names ahead of Nvidia’s earnings report, weighing on WDC along with Micron and Seagate even though underlying storage demand remains firm. Micron, Seagate, Western Digital, Semtech, and Penguin Solutions Shares Are Falling
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Apple may source memory chips from Chinese suppliers have intensified concerns about competition and future pricing across the memory industry. WDC’s premium valuation, concentration in cloud customers and the need to execute its product ramp add to investor caution. Memory Stocks Slide on Report Apple May Source Chinese Chips

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $435.38 on Tuesday. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $76.70 and a 1-year high of $799.87. The stock has a market cap of $150.07 billion, a PE ratio of 17.98 and a beta of 2.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $547.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $435.48.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.15 dividend. 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 is 2.48%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 114,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,663,290.57. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the business’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 value of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,598 shares of company stock worth $11,868,944. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.