Western Digital Corporation $WDC Stock Acquired by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 141.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,950 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,248 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $35,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $378.51 on Thursday. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $117.23 and a 1 year high of $799.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 2.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $438.14 and its 200 day moving average is $480.05.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Western Digital from $590.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Western Digital from $650.00 to $615.00 in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.56.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are positioning for a potential earnings beat. Western Digital has a strong history of exceeding estimates, and analysts expect management to report continued momentum in its upcoming results. Why Western Digital Is Poised to Beat Earnings Estimates Again
• Positive Sentiment: Recent operating trends support the bullish case: the prior quarter delivered revenue growth of roughly 44% year over year, expanding margins and more than $1 billion in free cash flow. Management’s previous guidance called for fiscal Q1 revenue growth of approximately 42% to 49%, reflecting strong demand for high-capacity drives. Western Digital Rises Ahead of Earnings as Investors Bet on Strong Storage Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target to $800 and maintained a Buy rating. Morgan Stanley also expects strong results and improved guidance, while its $643 target remains substantially above the current trading level. Seagate and Western Digital Stocks Gain
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the recent rebound, WDC remains in a severe bear-market pattern after falling more than half from its June high. The earnings report and forward guidance will be critical in determining whether AI-related storage demand can support a sustained recovery. Western Digital Stock Is Stuck in a Bear Market
• Negative Sentiment: Risks include concerns that data-center spending could slow, alongside broader questions about AI investment financing and competition. In addition, insider transactions reported over the past six months were exclusively sales, which may weigh on investor confidence. Cramer Warns on Western Digital and SanDisk

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at $53,650,465.80. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. The trade was a 3.36% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,629 shares of company stock valued at $11,033,404. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

About Western Digital

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.