Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $127.33 Million Stock Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 199,352 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 20,106 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $127,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WDC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Western Digital by 7.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,698,000 after buying an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Western Digital by 229.7% during the first 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 period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 55.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Western Digital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $459.45 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $526.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $439.63. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $77.90 and a 1 year high of $799.87. The firm has a market cap of $158.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The company’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

More Western Digital News

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

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at $53,650,465.80. This trade represents a 0.89% 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 have sold 26,117 shares of company stock worth $12,053,353 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.