Inspire Investing LLC Increases Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 77.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,662 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,338 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Western Digital by 34.1% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 242.2% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Western Digital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays raised their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.95.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total transaction of $1,051,930.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 135,351 shares in the company, valued at $10,121,547.78. This trade represents a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total transaction of $28,557.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 27,425 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,682.50. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,921,594. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital Trading Up 4.2%

WDC stock opened at $105.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $36.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $106.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.32 and its 200-day moving average is $58.70.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Western Digital Profile

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.