Western Digital Corporation $WDC Stock Position Lifted by Czech National Bank

Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,278 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,389 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in Western Digital during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP grew 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 242.2% in the first 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. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total transaction of $1,024,159.47. Following the sale, the insider owned 151,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,687,602.84. This represents a 6.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total transaction of $654,333.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 594,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,148,052.40. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,730 shares of company stock worth $3,921,594 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 4.2%

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $105.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.70. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $106.11.

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

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on WDC shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $53.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.95.

About Western Digital

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.