Cardano Risk Management B.V. Takes Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Cardano Risk Management B.V. acquired 187,935 Western Digital shares worth approximately $120 million in the second quarter, giving it a 0.05% stake; institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $3.75 billion and adjusted earnings of $3.56 per share, beating estimates as AI-driven cloud-storage demand, stronger pricing and higher-capacity hard drives boosted results.
• Despite the earnings beat, the stock has faced selling pressure because fiscal 2027 margin guidance fell short of elevated expectations after a major AI-driven rally. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $534.56.

Cardano Risk Management B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 187,935 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $120,038,000. Western Digital makes up approximately 0.9% of Cardano Risk Management B.V.'s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Cardano Risk Management B.V. owned approximately 0.05% of Western Digital as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter worth about $221,800,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter worth about $350,403,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in Western Digital by 267.6% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,691,659 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $291,422,000 after buying an additional 1,231,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $3.75 billion, up about 44% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $3.56 per share—both ahead of Wall Street expectations. Growth was supported by AI-related cloud storage demand, stronger pricing, and higher-capacity hard-disk drives. Western Digital Q4 Earnings Beat as Revenue Jumps 44% on Cloud Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted strong visibility into AI-storage demand, with some customers negotiating capacity commitments through 2031. The company also expects continued margin expansion, while analysts remain broadly constructive; recent price targets include $630 from Baird and a $575 median across 15 analysts. Western Digital Says AI Customers Are Already Negotiating Storage Deals Through 2031
• Neutral Sentiment: The selloff is part of a broader rotation within semiconductor and memory stocks. Investors have been shifting toward AI networking leaders, while comparing Western Digital’s results with stronger results from rival Seagate Technology. Western Digital Slumps Despite Q2 Beat as Analysts Highlight Peer Seagate’s Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, payable September 17 to shareholders of record September 8. The dividend provides a modest shareholder return but is unlikely to drive the near-term trading reaction.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors viewed fiscal-first-quarter 2027 gross-margin guidance of 55%–56% as insufficiently strong after the stock’s dramatic advance and elevated expectations. Although the outlook implies sequential improvement, it trailed the bar set by Seagate and was interpreted as evidence that the recent margin expansion may be stabilizing. Western Digital Shares Fall as Margin Outlook Tempers Strong Q4 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking intensified because Western Digital had already rallied sharply on the AI-storage theme. The strong earnings beat therefore failed to exceed the market’s unusually high expectations, prompting a valuation reset and technical concerns around support levels. Sandisk, Western Digital Drag on Chip Stocks as Lofty Expectations Eclipse Strong Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Reported insider activity has been heavily tilted toward selling, with 129 sales and no purchases over the past six months. While such transactions may reflect diversification or compensation, the lack of insider buying adds to near-term investor caution.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the topic of several research reports. Summit Insights cut Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $676.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 price target on Western Digital in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price objective on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $534.56.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,093 shares of company stock valued at $2,751,337. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Trading Down 3.8%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $434.30 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $73.14 and a 52 week high of $799.87. The stock has a market cap of $149.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $565.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $417.35.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 18.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital's payout ratio is 3.58%.

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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