USA Financial Formulas Acquires 1,355 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

USA Financial Formulas lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 31.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,628 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,355 shares during the period. Western Digital comprises about 0.3% of USA Financial Formulas’ holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WDC. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Western Digital by 71.4% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 230,578 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $147,275,000 after buying an additional 96,078 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $2,270,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $193,303,000 after buying an additional 282,156 shares in the last quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $20,889,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors raised its position in Western Digital by 145.8% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 5,950 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 3,529 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at $47,366,060.96. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at $256,287,591.02. The trade was a 3.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 25,093 shares of company stock valued at $11,650,737 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Trading Up 4.4%

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $508.80 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $556.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $425.47. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $73.14 and a 1-year high of $799.87. The company has a market cap of $175.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 2.14.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price target on shares of Western Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $676.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $534.56.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Sector rally supports WDC. SanDisk’s bullish long-term growth targets, including expectations for sustained flash-memory demand, boosted sentiment toward storage companies. Western Digital benefited from the read-through, particularly as investors anticipate continued AI infrastructure spending on HDD and NAND storage. SanDisk outlook article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and quantitative signals improved. Zacks upgraded Western Digital to Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” citing improving earnings prospects. WDC was also included among Zacks’ top momentum stocks, while JPMorgan reportedly raised its price target to $650. Zacks upgrade article
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results provide fundamental support. Western Digital’s latest quarter exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, with revenue rising 43.8% year over year. Stronger pricing, high-capacity drive demand and AI-driven storage requirements are supporting expectations for continued growth. WDC sector rally article
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning is mixed: JPMorgan and Capital World Investors added shares, while several large investors reduced holdings. The conflicting activity does not establish a clear institutional trend.
• Negative Sentiment: Elevated expectations remain a risk. Despite the earnings beat, WDC shares previously fell sharply because management’s guidance did not exceed demanding investor expectations. Concerns remain about moderating sequential growth, NAND pricing volatility and whether the AI-driven storage cycle has peaked. WDC earnings reaction article
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling may weigh on sentiment. CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares for approximately $8.9 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Broader data shows substantial insider selling and no reported insider purchases during the past six months. CEO insider sale article

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.