Black Swift Group LLC Buys Shares of 12,500 Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Black Swift Group LLC opened a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter, buying 12,500 shares worth about $2.15 million.
• Western Digital posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.72 beating estimates and revenue of $3.34 billion topping expectations; the company also raised its Q4 2026 guidance to $3.10-$3.40 EPS.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share from $0.13, while analysts broadly remain positive, with several raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus rating.

Black Swift Group LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 12,500 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,153,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 207.0% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter worth $33,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $531.21 on Monday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $51.17 and a 52-week high of $553.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $396.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $281.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71 and a beta of 2.13.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.99%.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from broad strength across memory and storage stocks, with investors betting that AI infrastructure demand will keep pricing and demand elevated for HDDs and SSDs. Not Just Micron: Memory Melt-Up Pulls SanDisk Up 8%, Western Digital Up 10%
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage points to continued gross margin improvement, with Q3 gross margin jumping to 50.5% and Q4 guidance calling for 51%-52%, helped by higher-capacity drives, better pricing, and cost controls. Can Western Digital Deliver Continued Gross Margin Improvement?
• Positive Sentiment: The company appointed former Nvidia executive Manuvir Das to its board, reinforcing the view that Western Digital is positioning itself more directly around AI and data-center growth opportunities. WD Appoints Manuvir Das to Board of Directors
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary also highlighted Western Digital as underappreciated relative to peers, with hard disk drives still seen as critical to AI storage infrastructure. Western Digital Is Making the Right Moves Amid Fierce Momentum for Memory Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: One analyst piece argued Western Digital stacks up poorly versus peers like Micron, which could temper enthusiasm even as the broader sector remains strong. Western Digital Stacks Up Poorly To Peers Like Micron, Don't Buy Here
• Neutral Sentiment: An insider sale by Cynthia Tregillis was disclosed, but it was small and made under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, so it does not appear to be a major warning sign. SEC filing

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 214 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $539.63, for a total value of $115,480.82. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 117,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,221,431.91. This trade represents a 0.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 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 completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 54,405 shares of company stock valued at $18,575,428 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Susquehanna reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.50.

About Western Digital

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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