Aberdeen Group plc Buys 773,103 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 307.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,024,588 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 773,103 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $465,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,602,927,000. ABS Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $1,226,342,000. Anther Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $901,601,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $885,565,000. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $627,606,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Down 5.0%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $295.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 2.27. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $132.43 and a 12-month high of $799.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $391.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $420.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. Western Digital had a return on equity of 55.62% and a net margin of 69.20%. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 23.62 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.1750 per share. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 2.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WDC. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $740.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Western Digital from $540.00 to $430.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Western Digital from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.04.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,052,185.77. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 5,436 shares of company stock valued at $2,440,664 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) develops and supplies hard disk drives (HDDs) and related data-storage products. Its drives serve data centers and cloud providers, as well as businesses and consumers who need storage for computers, network-attached storage systems, surveillance and other applications. Its product brands include WD and Ultrastar. Founded in 1970, the company began as an electronics and semiconductor business before expanding into data storage. In February 2025, Western Digital completed the separation of its flash-memory business into the independently traded SanDisk Corporation, leaving Western Digital focused on HDDs.