Castle Hook Partners LP Decreases Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Castle Hook Partners LP reduced its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 24.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,325,670 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 426,733 shares during the quarter. Western Digital makes up about 0.9% of Castle Hook Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Castle Hook Partners LP owned about 0.39% of Western Digital worth $228,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $788,729,000. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% in 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 during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in 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 during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter worth $221,800,000. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $291,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,477 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $712.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.52 and a beta of 2.13. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.53 and a 52-week high of $741.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $470.28 and a 200 day moving average of $320.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is 3.58%.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley boosted its outlook on Western Digital, lifting its price target and reinforcing a bullish view on HDD demand and the company’s HAMR roadmap, which helped push the shares to new highs. Western Digital Stock Just Hit a New All-Time High. Here's Why.
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles point to surging AI infrastructure spending and cloud storage demand as the main catalyst, with Western Digital increasingly viewed as a beneficiary of the AI trade. Western Digital stock jumps as AI trade reignites
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says earnings are nearly doubling on AI and cloud demand, while estimates continue to move higher, supporting momentum-trader interest in WDC. Western Digital (WDC) Moves 4.2% Higher: Will This Strength Last?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also watching the June 22 SanDisk-related catalyst, which could influence sentiment but is not yet a confirmed financial event. Dear Western Digital Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for June 22
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary warns the rally may have run ahead of fundamentals and could be due for a near-term pullback after the stock’s massive year-to-date run. Western Digital stock looks ripe for a near-term pullback: find out more

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total transaction of $235,699.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 116,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $450.46.

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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