Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Insider Sells $214,571.28 in Stock

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 476 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.78, for a total transaction of $214,571.28. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 114,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,742,331.52. This represents a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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.

Western Digital Stock Performance

• Western Digital Stock Falls 12% Despite Beating Earnings Estimates

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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $532.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $439.49. The firm has a market cap of $159.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital's quarterly revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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• MarketBeat Week in Review – 07/27- 07/31

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.48%.

Key Stories 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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

• Western Digital’s Earnings Will Test Whether Its AI Rally Has More Room

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WDC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Mizuho set a $590.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $534.56.

Read Our Latest Report on WDC

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Western Digital by 64,424.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 338,388,746 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $216,135,660,000 after purchasing an additional 337,864,310 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its position in Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter worth $1,602,927,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $221,800,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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