Western Digital Corporation $WDC Stock Purchased by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 14.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,958 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,834 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $43,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 182.6% in the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 65 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $347.35 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $417.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $418.03. The firm has a market cap of $130.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.27. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $132.43 and a 1 year high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 55.62% and a net margin of 69.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 23.62 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.1750 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $900.00 price target on Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Mizuho set a $490.00 target price on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $668.00 target price on Western Digital and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Western Digital from $740.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total value of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 80,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,052,185.77. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total transaction of $306,660.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 108,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,392,640. This trade represents a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,436 shares of company stock worth $11,340,064. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Memory stocks recovered some of Monday’s losses after a cautious outlook from Kioxia weighed on the group; Western Digital joined the rebound, providing a near-term tailwind for WDC. SanDisk Surges as Memory Stocks Rebound
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital raised its quarterly dividend nearly 17% to $0.175 per share. The increase follows a strong fiscal first quarter, with revenue up 55% and adjusted earnings up 161% year over year. Western Digital Raises Its Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Cloud customers generated 88% of revenue, with cloud sales growing 54%. That reflects strong storage demand, but also leaves WDC particularly exposed to spending by a concentrated customer segment. Western Digital’s Cloud Revenue Share
• Negative Sentiment: A report on Jim Cramer’s comparison favored Micron over Western Digital, which may underscore competition for investor attention as AI-related memory demand attracts interest. Micron vs. Western Digital
• Negative Sentiment: A Western Digital director sold 18.7% of their stake under a preset plan. The planned nature of the sale may temper its significance, but insider selling can still draw investor notice. Western Digital Director Sells Shares

Western Digital Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.