Caprock Group LLC Purchases 10,921 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Caprock Group increased its stake in Western Digital by 50.2%, buying 10,921 shares to hold 32,691 shares valued at about $5.63 million, amid broader institutional ownership of 92.51%.
• Company insiders have been net sellers — 92,711 shares worth $24.3 million were sold in the past three months, including 36,926 shares by Director Matthew Massengill and 20,000 by CEO Irving Tan, leaving insiders with just 0.18% ownership.
• Western Digital beat Q4 expectations (EPS $2.13 vs. $1.93; revenue $3.02B vs. $2.93B), and several analysts have raised targets (up to ~$405/$400), helping drive the stock to a 52-week high of $402.00.

Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 50.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,691 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,921 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 168,323 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $28,997,000 after acquiring an additional 37,100 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,481.8% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 222,894 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $38,398,000 after acquiring an additional 208,803 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $274,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 6,024 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TriaGen Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $951,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $9,616,638.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total value of $5,108,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $159,288,807.84. The trade was a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 92,711 shares of company stock valued at $24,300,404 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $389.10 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.92. The company has a market capitalization of $131.92 billion, a PE ratio of 39.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $37.47 and a 12 month high of $402.00.

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

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Western Digital to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Western Digital from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $310.79.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its coverage and boosted WDC’s price target to $405 with an Overweight rating, reinforcing institutional buy-side momentum and supporting the rally. Barclays raises price target to $405
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan (and Morgan Stanley commentary) flagged WDC as a top memory/storage idea and JPMorgan raised its price target to $400, adding credibility to the upside case and likely driving buy-side flows. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley Bullish on Western Digital (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage has broadly shifted positive — Evercore and other shops have published bullish notes and the street consensus sits around a “moderate buy,” helping sustain momentum into new highs. Analyst consensus and Evercore note
• Positive Sentiment: Sector bullishness from continued AI-driven memory demand (Micron coverage and broader commentary) is lifting peers like WDC as investors price in stronger near‑term storage demand and higher margins. Stock Market Today, April 22: Micron Technology Surges on Continued Memory Boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital published its FY2025 Annual Sustainability Report emphasizing efficiency and sustainability for AI-scale storage — a message that can help institutional ESG positioning but has limited immediate revenue impact. WD Raises the Bar on Sustainable Infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Management will be participating in several investor conferences (Barclays, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America) in May–June, which provides additional chances for guidance clarity and analyst engagement — important but informational. WD to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: Memory-focused ETF flows (first dedicated memory ETF reaching ~$1B AUM) show strong demand for the group, which benefits WDC as a large-cap exposure to the theme but may amplify volatility. Memory ETF hits $1B AUM
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks and other commentators note WDC’s rapid run (to a 52-week high) leaves valuation stretched and raises the risk of a pullback if AI demand growth or margin assumptions disappoint. That makes timing entry points and position sizing more important. Is Western Digital Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold After Hitting a 52-Week High?
• Negative Sentiment: Comparative analysis (SanDisk vs Western Digital) highlights NAND-focused peers with different end-market exposure; investors worried about longer-term NAND vs HDD secular trends may prefer competitors, which could cap WDC’s multiple over time. SanDisk vs. Western Digital: Which Memory Storage Stock Is the Better Buy?

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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