Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 17,104.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,141 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 62,774 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $40,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WDC. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $459.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $158.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $526.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $439.63. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $77.90 and a 12-month high of $799.87.

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

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. The trade was a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the sale, the insider owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at $53,650,465.80. The trade was a 0.89% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 26,117 shares of company stock worth $12,053,353. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s long-term outlook remains supported by demand for AI infrastructure, cloud computing, enterprise storage, automotive systems and other data-intensive applications. Analysts at Zacks continue to identify WDC as a potential beneficiary of strong memory and storage demand, particularly following Nvidia’s solid results. 4 High-Flying Memory and Storage Giants
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest quarterly results provide fundamental support: revenue rose 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion, while earnings of $3.56 per share exceeded expectations. Guidance for $3.85 to $4.15 in next-quarter EPS also remains constructive.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street’s consensus remains bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target above the current trading level. Several firms have cited continued AI and storage demand as reasons for further upside. Wall Street’s Bullish Views on WDC
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider Cynthia Tregillis sold a small portion of her holdings under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The transactions modestly reduce her position but do not necessarily signal deteriorating confidence. Cynthia Tregillis Insider Transactions
• Negative Sentiment: Memory and storage stocks sold off even after Nvidia reported strong results, suggesting investors are taking profits from an extended AI trade and differentiating among suppliers. Western Digital’s underperformance versus peers has amplified concern that expectations or valuation may have become too aggressive. Why Memory Stocks Fell Despite Nvidia’s Results

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Fox Advisors cut shares of Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $676.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $534.56.

Western Digital 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.