Ardmore Road Asset Management LP Grows Stock Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Ardmore Road Asset Management LP increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 166.7%, now holding 400,000 shares valued at approximately $16.17 million.
• Western Digital has announced a $2.00 billion share repurchase program, allowing the company to buy back up to 11.7% of its shares, which typically indicates the board's belief that the shares are undervalued.
• The company reported a 30% year-over-year revenue increase, with earnings per share of $1.66, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.48 for the last quarter.

Ardmore Road Asset Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 166.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 400,000 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 250,000 shares during the period. Western Digital accounts for 1.6% of Ardmore Road Asset Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Ardmore Road Asset Management LP owned approximately 0.11% of Western Digital worth $16,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,938,495 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,736,003,000 after acquiring an additional 478,728 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 23.7% during the fourth 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 valued at $273,852,000 after acquiring an additional 881,088 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Western Digital by 1.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $139,476,000 after acquiring an additional 52,140 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Western Digital by 107.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $136,222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sachem Head Capital Management LP grew its stake in Western Digital by 46.2% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 937,900 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 3,160 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,388,460.80. The trade was a 9.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total transaction of $1,051,930.26. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 135,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,121,547.78. This represents a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,361 shares of company stock valued at $3,006,534 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC traded down $1.70 on Monday, reaching $80.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,004,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,871,037. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $82.32. The company has a market cap of $28.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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 anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.39.

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.