Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Takes $1.13 Million Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired 9,418 shares of Western Digital, a new stake valued at approximately $1.13 million, which equals about 1.0% of its portfolio and is its 22nd-largest holding.
• Big institutional moves lifted ownership: WCM Investment Management bought ~$791.3 million of WDC, Norges Bank added ~$220.7 million, Soroban Capital and others also made large purchases, leaving institutional ownership near 92.51%.
• Key catalysts include a $4.0 billion buyback authorization, an earnings beat and rising AI/cloud HDD demand supporting the rally, but heavy insider selling and macro-driven volatility are notable downside risks.

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,418 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,131,000. Western Digital accounts for 1.0% of Chesapeake Capital Corp IL's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth $791,317,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at about $220,680,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in 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 valued at $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 175.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,071 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $78,347,000 after acquiring an additional 784,645 shares during the period. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd grew its holdings in Western Digital by 463.4% during the third quarter. Trivest Advisors Ltd now owns 920,000 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $110,455,000 after acquiring an additional 756,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Investor focus on tight high-capacity HDD supply for cloud/AI workloads and Western Digital’s expanded $4.0 billion share-repurchase authorization is supporting the rally; the company’s Innovation Day roadmap (40TB UltraSMR ePMR HDD in hyperscaler qualification) reinforces the growth narrative for AI storage. Western Digital (WDC) rises 3.5% as AI-storage demand narrative and recent buyback authorization continue to support shares
• Positive Sentiment: Customer narrative pieces highlight strong enterprise demand for hard drives, which backs the thesis that nearline/HDD capacity remains tight and pricing power could persist. Customer Narrative on Hard Drives Bodes Well for Western Digital (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment and relative performance remain constructive: WDC has materially outperformed the broader tech sector over the past year and multiple brokers maintain bullish ratings and elevated price targets, which provides momentum and buy-side interest. How Is Western Digital's Stock Performance Compared to Other Technology Stocks?
• Positive Sentiment: Media commentators (e.g., Jim Cramer) have included WDC on watchlists as a name to buy on market dips, which can amplify flows when broader-market pullbacks occur. Cramer: Buy Western Digital, Micron, Seagate on oil-driven dips
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnership/solution announcements (e.g., VDURA combining WD Ultrastar hybrid platforms with cloud-scale AI file architecture) extend product reach but are incremental until they produce visible revenue/contract wins. VDURA to Combine Scalable WD Ultrastar Hybrid Storage Platforms with Cloud-Scale AI File Architecture
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling has been heavy recently (multiple exec sales reported), which can be interpreted negatively by some investors and may weigh on sentiment despite company-level buybacks. Western Digital (WDC) rises 3.5% as AI-storage demand narrative and recent buyback authorization continue to support shares
• Negative Sentiment: Macro pressure from rising oil and choppy futures can drag broader tech names; recent headlines show futures slipping as oil jumps, which can trigger short-term volatility for WDC. Dow Jones Futures Fall As Oil Prices Run Past $90; Oracle, Nvidia Lift These AI Names
• Negative Sentiment: Short-term pullbacks have occurred (coverage noting WDC fell more than the broader market), so momentum can reverse quickly after a sharp rally — watch valuation and volume on moves. Western Digital (WDC) Falls More Steeply Than Broader Market: What Investors Need to Know

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $272.29 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $255.24 and a 200-day moving average of $178.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.31, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $309.90.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.77 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total transaction of $5,108,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at $159,288,807.84. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,643,630.14. This trade represents a 7.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 92,795 shares of company stock valued at $24,265,884 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group set a $306.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $197.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $265.58.

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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