Rakuten Securities Inc. Takes $5.24 Million Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,207 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,242,000. Western Digital comprises approximately 1.2% of Rakuten Securities Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% in the second quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 28.6% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.0%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $459.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $158.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 2.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $552.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $433.31. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $74.57 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87.

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

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 2.48%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,366,060.96. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total value of $427,941.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 114,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,663,290.57. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,679 shares of company stock valued at $11,451,605. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WDC. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.

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.