Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Sells 22,617 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Banco BTG Pactual S.A. cut its Western Digital stake by 93.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 22,617 shares and leaving it with 1,488 shares valued at about $256,000.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with several large investors making major moves into WDC; notably, Norges Bank opened a new position worth $788.7 million, and 92.51% of the stock is held by institutions.
• Analysts stay bullish on Western Digital amid strong AI/storage demand, with recent target raises from Citi and Mizuho; the consensus rating is Moderate Buy and the stock has also been helped by positive earnings and a higher dividend.

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 93.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,488 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 22,617 shares during the quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $788,729,000. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 4,923.9% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $409,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,339,225 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter worth $221,800,000. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in Western Digital by 267.6% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,691,659 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $291,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,477 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $433.29.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital and related memory stocks rebounded as investors rotated back into the group following SK Hynix’s capacity plan, which helped sentiment across the storage space. SanDisk Jumps 14%, Western Digital Climbs 6% as Memory Stocks Rebound on SK Hynix’s Capacity Plan
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on WDC, with recent price target increases from Mizuho and Citi reinforcing expectations for continued AI-driven storage demand and stronger earnings estimates. Mizuho and Citi Raise Western Digital (WDC) Price Targets
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s stock has also benefited from ongoing investor optimism around AI storage demand, pricing gains, and its more focused HDD-centric business mix. Western Digital Stock Skyrockets 185% YTD: Is More Growth on the Horizon?
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital announced a privately negotiated share exchange involving SanDisk investors, which may affect the company’s capital structure but is not clearly a direct earnings driver yet. Western Digital Announces Sandisk Share Exchange With Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent broker commentary has kept WDC at a “Moderate Buy,” supporting the stock but largely confirming already positive sentiment rather than adding a new catalyst. Western Digital Corporation Receives Consensus Rating of Moderate Buy from Brokerages

Western Digital Trading Up 8.0%

WDC opened at $529.29 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $441.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $306.11. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $54.60 and a 1-year high of $602.54. The company has a market cap of $182.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 3.58%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital 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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