Bayforest Capital Ltd Reduces Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Bayforest Capital Ltd cut its stake in Western Digital by 65.3% in Q4, selling 2,722 shares and retaining 1,444 shares valued at $249,000 at quarter-end.
• Western Digital beat Q results with $2.13 EPS vs. $1.93 expected and revenue of $3.02B (up 25.2% YoY), prompting several analysts to raise targets — Evercore lifted its target to $410 — and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insiders have been net sellers (92,795 shares worth about $24.3M over the last 90 days) even as institutional ownership remains high at 92.51%, and the company pays a modest annualized dividend yield (~0.1%).

Bayforest Capital Ltd reduced its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 65.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,444 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 2,722 shares during the quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd's holdings in Western Digital were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,196,484,000 after buying an additional 243,177 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at $791,317,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Western Digital by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $456,884,000 after buying an additional 384,103 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Western Digital by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,804,907 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $456,737,000 after buying an additional 402,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 4,923.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $409,049,000 after buying an additional 3,339,225 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $374.11 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $294.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.97. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $35.51 and a 12-month high of $380.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $126.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.52, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.77.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.Western Digital's revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho upped their target price on Western Digital to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Western Digital from $200.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research cut Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen cut Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 12th. Finally, Evercore upped their price target on Western Digital to $410.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $305.63.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore raised its price target to $410 and reiterated an "outperform" rating, signaling bullish analyst conviction and providing near-term upside for the stock. Evercore price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: A separate price-target increase to $415 was published, adding more analyst support that can help sustain the rally. Price Target Raised to $415
• Positive Sentiment: Top analysts have been boosting targets ahead of earnings, reflecting confidence in WDC’s exposure to HDD/SSD demand from cloud hyperscalers and AI workloads. TipRanks analyst boost
• Positive Sentiment: News coverage highlights that increased investment from hyperscalers and growing data volumes are driving demand for Western Digital’s storage products, supporting revenue and margin outlooks. Hyperscaler investment article
• Positive Sentiment: Sector commentary expects data-center/AI-related parts (including WDC products) to continue rallying as AI deployments expand, which could sustain investor appetite for the stock. FXEmpire AI parts forecast
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and consumer-focused pieces are debating whether WDC at current levels should be a watch-list buy — interest is high, but some investors are waiting for clearer post-earnings guidance. Watch list article
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles flag a trade-off: Western Digital’s cash flow has improved due to AI-driven demand, but elevated debt raises questions about financial flexibility and growth funding — a risk that could cap the multiple if leverage isn’t reduced. Yahoo cash flow vs leverage Zacks cash flow vs leverage

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the sale, the insider owned 121,682 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,643,630.14. This trade represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $9,616,638.18. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 92,795 shares of company stock worth $24,265,884 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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