AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 195,606 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 77.7%, acquiring an additional 195,606 shares to reach a total of 447,426 shares, valued at approximately $17.7 million.
• Western Digital's board approved a $2 billion share buyback program, indicating that they believe the company's stock is undervalued.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, representing a 0.4% yield, to be paid on September 18 to shareholders of record on September 4.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 77.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 447,426 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 195,606 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.13% of Western Digital worth $17,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 130.0% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $203,337,000 after buying an additional 2,842,822 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Western Digital by 107.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $136,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,481 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at about $50,897,000. Sachem Head Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP now owns 2,967,900 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $176,976,000 after buying an additional 937,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,592,516 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $273,852,000 after purchasing an additional 881,088 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total transaction of $1,024,159.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 151,596 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,687,602.84. The trade was a 6.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total value of $654,333.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 594,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,148,052.40. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,975 shares of company stock valued at $3,935,806 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC traded up $1.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $97.66. 6,751,889 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,141,993. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $76.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.20. The company has a market cap of $34.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.69. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $98.86.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%.The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The business's 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 research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WDC shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $53.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.89.

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.