Hennessy Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 5,204 Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,204 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,324,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WDC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its stake in Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $1,602,927,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth about $221,800,000. Finally, Anther Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $901,601,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at $53,650,465.80. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. The trade was a 3.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 23,642 shares of company stock worth $10,676,659 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WDC. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Western Digital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $459.45 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $526.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $440.71. The stock has a market cap of $158.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 2.14. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.48%.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

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.