683 Capital Management LLC Purchases 60,600 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• 683 Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 13.8%, acquiring 60,600 additional shares, bringing its total ownership to 500,000 shares.
• Western Digital recently announced a $2.00 billion share repurchase plan, indicating confidence in its stock value, alongside a quarterly dividend payout of $0.10 scheduled for September 18th.
• Western Digital reported strong financial results, with a 30% year-over-year revenue increase and earnings per share of $1.66, exceeding analyst expectations.

683 Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 13.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 500,000 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 60,600 shares during the quarter. Western Digital makes up approximately 1.4% of 683 Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. 683 Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Western Digital worth $20,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Western Digital by 34.1% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 242.2% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.7%

NASDAQ WDC traded up $1.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $92.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,309,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,167,732. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $93.10. The company has a market capitalization of $32.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $73.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.05.

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

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to buy up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total value of $28,557.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,682.50. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total transaction of $654,333.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 594,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,148,052.40. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,975 shares of company stock worth $3,935,806. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Western Digital from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.28.

Western Digital Profile

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.