Engineers Gate Manager LP Lowers Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP cut its Western Digital stake by 43.2% in the second quarter, selling 29,391 shares and retaining 38,678 shares valued at approximately $24.7 million.
• Institutional investors still hold a dominant 92.51% of WDC’s shares, although company insiders have sold 25,437 shares worth $11.46 million over the past 90 days.
• Western Digital reported strong results, with quarterly EPS of $3.56 beating estimates and revenue rising 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, but valuation concerns have emerged after the stock’s significant advance.

Engineers Gate Manager LP reduced its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 43.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,678 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 29,391 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP's holdings in Western Digital were worth $24,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 64,424.3% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 338,388,746 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $216,135,660,000 after purchasing an additional 337,864,310 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $456,884,000 after acquiring an additional 384,103 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $512,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,661 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at $53,650,465.80. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,437 shares of company stock worth $11,461,345. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven storage demand remains a key growth catalyst. Rising data volumes from AI inference, agentic AI and other emerging workloads could support long-term demand for Western Digital’s data-center storage products. AI Data Explosion: Can WDC Become a Bigger Storage Winner?
• Positive Sentiment: Strong free cash flow supports shareholder returns. WDC entered fiscal 2027 with stronger cash generation and a net cash position, potentially enabling continued buybacks and dividend payments. The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share. Can Western Digital's Strong FCF Sustain Buybacks and Dividends?
• Positive Sentiment: Recent operating performance has exceeded expectations. Western Digital’s latest reported quarter included adjusted earnings of $3.56 per share versus the $3.31 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion. Fiscal first-quarter 2027 guidance of $3.85–$4.15 in EPS reinforces the bullish earnings narrative.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s Citi Global TMT Conference presentation is in focus. Investors are evaluating the company’s latest commentary on storage demand, AI exposure and fiscal 2027 prospects for additional clues about the sustainability of its growth. Western Digital Presents at Citi's 2026 Global TMT Conference
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation has become a concern. A separate analysis questions whether WDC is priced too aggressively after its substantial advance. With the stock trading at roughly 20 times earnings, further gains may depend on continued earnings growth and successful execution. Is Western Digital Priced Too High?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling adds a modest cautionary signal. Insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares and Cynthia Tregillis sold 432 shares. Both retained sizable holdings, and Tregillis’s transaction was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing its significance as a bearish signal. Western Digital Insider Selling

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WDC. Wall Street Zen cut Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Fox Advisors lowered Western Digital from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $676.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Two research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $482.28 on Thursday. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $93.92 and a 12 month high of $799.87. The stock has a market cap of $166.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 2.13. The company's fifty day moving average price is $496.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $450.83.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. Western Digital's quarterly revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.48%.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation NASDAQ: WDC develops, manufactures and sells data storage products and solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises, businesses and consumers. Its portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs), including high-capacity enterprise drives used in cloud and data center environments, as well as products for network-attached storage, surveillance and personal computing.

The company markets products under brands including Western Digital, WD, WD_BLACK and Ultrastar.

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