16,060 Shares in Western Digital Corporation $WDC Acquired by Bluefin Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Bluefin Capital Management LLC acquired 16,060 shares of Western Digital Corporation, valued at approximately $649,000, in the first quarter of the year.
• Western Digital received several analyst upgrades, with Wedbush raising their price target from $78.00 to $90.00 and Zacks Research upgrading to a "strong-buy" rating.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, to be paid on September 18th, representing a 0.4% annualized yield.

Bluefin Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 16,060 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $649,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 52.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,838 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,166,000 after buying an additional 9,974 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,406,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 144,307 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,834,000 after purchasing an additional 6,947 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Western Digital by 32.0% in the first quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 897,574 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $36,289,000 after purchasing an additional 217,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in Western Digital by 6.8% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 89,244 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $3,608,000 after purchasing an additional 5,711 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush upped their price objective on Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.50.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $94.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $32.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.69. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $95.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $74.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.27.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Western Digital declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 3,160 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $239,148.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 31,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,388,460.80. The trade was a 9.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total value of $1,024,159.47. Following the transaction, the insider owned 151,596 shares in the company, valued at $13,687,602.84. This trade represents a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,975 shares of company stock worth $3,935,806 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.

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