Alight Capital Management LP Invests $4.80 Million in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Alight Capital Management LP bought a new position of 40,000 Western Digital shares valued at approximately $4.80 million in Q3, while institutional investors now own about 92.51% of the company.
• Insiders have sold a total of 92,795 shares (≈$24.27 million) over the past 90 days — including CEO Irving Tan and Vidyadhara K. Gubbi — leaving insiders with just 0.18% ownership, a potential negative for sentiment.
• Western Digital beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.13 vs. $1.93; revenue $3.02B, up 25.2% YoY), announced a $4.0 billion buyback, and received analyst upgrades as demand for AI/hyperscale HDD capacity boosts the growth narrative.

Alight Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 40,000 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,802,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. 44 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 0.8% in the third quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,329 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,120,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $642,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,947,367 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $233,801,000 after acquiring an additional 210,600 shares during the period. Apis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,828,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 712,614 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $85,556,000 after purchasing an additional 174,047 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total transaction of $2,743,105.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 107,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,137,796.14. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total transaction of $5,108,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 623,586 shares in the company, valued at $159,288,807.84. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 92,795 shares of company stock valued at $24,265,884 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Investor focus on tight high-capacity HDD supply for cloud/AI workloads and Western Digital’s expanded $4.0 billion share-repurchase authorization is supporting the rally; the company’s Innovation Day roadmap (40TB UltraSMR ePMR HDD in hyperscaler qualification) reinforces the growth narrative for AI storage. Western Digital (WDC) rises 3.5% as AI-storage demand narrative and recent buyback authorization continue to support shares
• Positive Sentiment: Customer narrative pieces highlight strong enterprise demand for hard drives, which backs the thesis that nearline/HDD capacity remains tight and pricing power could persist. Customer Narrative on Hard Drives Bodes Well for Western Digital (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment and relative performance remain constructive: WDC has materially outperformed the broader tech sector over the past year and multiple brokers maintain bullish ratings and elevated price targets, which provides momentum and buy-side interest. How Is Western Digital's Stock Performance Compared to Other Technology Stocks?
• Positive Sentiment: Media commentators (e.g., Jim Cramer) have included WDC on watchlists as a name to buy on market dips, which can amplify flows when broader-market pullbacks occur. Cramer: Buy Western Digital, Micron, Seagate on oil-driven dips
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnership/solution announcements (e.g., VDURA combining WD Ultrastar hybrid platforms with cloud-scale AI file architecture) extend product reach but are incremental until they produce visible revenue/contract wins. VDURA to Combine Scalable WD Ultrastar Hybrid Storage Platforms with Cloud-Scale AI File Architecture
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling has been heavy recently (multiple exec sales reported), which can be interpreted negatively by some investors and may weigh on sentiment despite company-level buybacks. Western Digital (WDC) rises 3.5% as AI-storage demand narrative and recent buyback authorization continue to support shares
• Negative Sentiment: Macro pressure from rising oil and choppy futures can drag broader tech names; recent headlines show futures slipping as oil jumps, which can trigger short-term volatility for WDC. Dow Jones Futures Fall As Oil Prices Run Past $90; Oracle, Nvidia Lift These AI Names
• Negative Sentiment: Short-term pullbacks have occurred (coverage noting WDC fell more than the broader market), so momentum can reverse quickly after a sharp rally — watch valuation and volume on moves. Western Digital (WDC) Falls More Steeply Than Broader Market: What Investors Need to Know

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $272.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $309.90. The stock has a market cap of $92.32 billion, a PE ratio of 27.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $255.24 and a 200-day moving average of $179.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Western Digital from $200.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Western Digital from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $340.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Western Digital from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $265.58.

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.

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