Western Digital Corporation $WDC Holdings Lowered by Chapin Davis Inc.

Chapin Davis Inc. decreased its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 27.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 44,160 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 16,881 shares during the period. Western Digital comprises 5.0% of Chapin Davis Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Chapin Davis Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $28,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 7.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,698,000 after buying an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 229.7% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 114,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,663,290.57. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,093 shares of company stock worth $2,751,337. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital Trading Down 5.4%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $519.17 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $178.95 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00 and a beta of 2.14. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $73.14 and a 12-month high of $799.87. The company has a 50-day moving average of $569.14 and a 200 day moving average of $415.61.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. 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 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 3.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $560.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Fox Advisors cut shares of Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.32.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal Q4 adjusted earnings of $3.56 per share, above the roughly $3.31–$3.35 analyst consensus, while revenue reached $3.75 billion versus expectations near $3.70 billion. Earnings more than doubled from $1.66 per share a year earlier, and revenue increased 43.8% year over year. Western Digital Q4 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued first-quarter fiscal 2027 guidance above Wall Street forecasts, calling for adjusted EPS of $3.85–$4.15 versus consensus of $3.63 and revenue of $4.0–$4.2 billion versus expectations of approximately $3.9 billion. The outlook signals continued strength in data-storage demand, including demand associated with AI infrastructure.
• Neutral Sentiment: The results reinforce Western Digital’s improving fundamentals: strong memory-technology demand, expanding profitability and continued enterprise-storage momentum. However, the stock had already risen sharply this year, raising the bar for an earnings-related rally. Western Digital Profit Surges as Revenue Grows
• Negative Sentiment: Despite beating estimates and raising guidance, Western Digital sold off after hours alongside SanDisk. The reaction suggests investors may have been positioned for an even stronger report, or may be taking profits after the stock’s large year-to-date advance. Why SanDisk and Western Digital Stocks Are Falling After Hours
• Negative Sentiment: The immediate market takeaway was a “sell the news” response: strong reported results and above-consensus guidance were not enough to overcome elevated expectations and volatility across technology and storage stocks. Western Digital Beats Q4 Estimates, Stock Falls on Guidance

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.