FAS Wealth Partners Inc. Makes New Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

FAS Wealth Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 965 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 33.3% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 132 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Western Digital by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,707 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 1.1% in the first quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 3,782 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadcap Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 114,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,663,290.57. This trade represents a 0.70% 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 5,093 shares of company stock valued at $2,751,337 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly optimistic about Western Digital (WDC) after its substantial year-to-date rally. Coverage highlights strong earnings-surprise history, favorable ratings and price targets that generally point to additional upside, although expectations are elevated. Are Wall Street Analysts Predicting Western Digital Stock Will Climb or Sink?
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are looking for WDC to benefit from continued AI-related infrastructure investment and improving enterprise-storage demand. Strong results from rival Seagate have reinforced hopes that Western Digital could deliver a similarly positive earnings update. Should You Buy Western Digital Before Its Earnings Report?
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple previews say the earnings release could either rekindle investor enthusiasm or trigger a sharp reaction, since the stock has already risen significantly. Key issues include management’s outlook for demand, gross margin expansion and the durability of the AI-storage cycle. Sandisk and Western Digital Are Set to Report Earnings Soon
• Negative Sentiment: Recent weakness across memory and storage stocks reflects profit-taking, valuation concerns and caution ahead of earnings. Investors are also monitoring competition in the memory market and broader semiconductor-sector volatility. Western Digital Slides as Investors Appear to De-Risk Ahead of Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Reported insider-trading data shows substantial selling by company executives and other insiders over the past six months, with no reported open-market purchases. While such sales may reflect compensation or diversification, they could add to investor caution at elevated valuations.

Western Digital Trading Up 4.0%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $548.56 on Wednesday. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $73.14 and a 12-month high of $799.87. The firm has a market cap of $189.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.75 and a beta of 2.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $569.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $413.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WDC. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.32.

About Western Digital

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.