Excelsior Advisor Network LLC Invests $392,000 in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Excelsior Advisor Network LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,451 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $392,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Western Digital by 11.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $456,884,000 after purchasing an additional 384,103 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its stake 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 valued at $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $512,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228,661 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,809,409 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $483,977,000 after purchasing an additional 159,167 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $497.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $171.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73 and a beta of 2.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $565.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $400.49. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $68.67 and a 1-year high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Fox Advisors lowered shares of Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $520.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 28,959 shares of company stock worth $12,631,666 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Company 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.