KCM Investment Advisors LLC Invests $261,000 in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

KCM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,518 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WDC. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter worth about $34,244,000. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. grew its position in Western Digital by 399.8% during the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,900,000 after buying an additional 25,987 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 75.4% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,778,000 after buying an additional 4,068 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $2,270,000. Finally, WESPAC Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $793,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $653.53 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $454.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $312.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.26 billion, a PE ratio of 39.02 and a beta of 2.13. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $56.26 and a 12 month high of $658.80.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 3.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on WDC shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $450.46.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating and lifted its price target to $650, while other firms also turned constructive on Western Digital and the broader hard-drive/storage group. What’s Going On With The Jump In Western Digital Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are re-rating WDC on expectations that AI and cloud data-center buildouts will keep HDD and storage demand tight, supporting pricing power and margin expansion. Why Western Digital’s stock was the S&P 500’s biggest gainer on Monday
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings were stronger than expected, with revenue and EPS beating estimates and management guiding to continued profitability, reinforcing confidence in the turnaround story. Western Digital Corporation Will Hit $600 on This Date
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market sentiment was also upbeat, with risk appetite improving across AI, chip, and memory stocks, adding a sector tailwind to the move in WDC.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the transaction, the insider owned 90,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. This represents a 4.93% 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 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total transaction of $235,699.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.