Robotti Robert Makes New $13.91 Million Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Robotti Robert bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 21,771 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,906,000. Western Digital makes up about 2.2% of Robotti Robert’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 229.7% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at about $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 55.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $496.16 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $556.08 and its 200 day moving average is $430.29. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $73.14 and a 1 year high of $799.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The firm’s revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.15 dividend. 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 presently 2.48%.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital continues to benefit from improving earnings expectations, stronger storage pricing, and AI-driven cloud demand. Recent coverage characterized the company as a momentum candidate, while its latest results exceeded analyst estimates and management provided a strong fiscal 2027 outlook. Why Western Digital Is a Great Momentum Choice
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators remain constructive on the broader memory and storage cycle, citing supply constraints, rising demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure, and potential for continued earnings growth. Jim Cramer on Memory and Storage Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock’s recent rally was supported by bullish commentary about a potential memory bottleneck and by optimism surrounding the company’s margins and forecast-beating outlook. Those gains have left WDC and its peers more sensitive to profit-taking and changes in investor sentiment. Western Digital Stock Jumps as Memory Rally Accelerates
• Negative Sentiment: Rising Treasury yields are pressuring richly valued AI and semiconductor-related shares, encouraging investors to rotate away from the extended memory trade. Western Digital is declining alongside Micron and SanDisk despite the absence of a company-specific negative announcement. Higher Rates Test the Memory Boom
• Negative Sentiment: A Wall Street Journal report concerning previously undisclosed AI spending commitments appears to have intensified concerns about AI-related valuations and corporate spending, weighing on the entire memory and storage group. WSJ Report Sends Memory Stocks Down

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at $47,366,060.96. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,093 shares of company stock valued at $11,650,737. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Fox Advisors cut shares of Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Summit Insights cut shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.

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.