GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 56.7% in the 2nd quarter, now holding 9,820 shares worth $628,000.
• A strong trend among institutional investors saw firms like Vanguard Group Inc. and Alyeska Investment Group L.P. report significant stake increases in Western Digital, contributing to institutional ownership of 92.51%.
• Western Digital recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, reflecting a 0.4% annualized yield with a payout ratio of 7.77%.

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 56.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,820 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 3,555 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,938,495 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,736,003,000 after acquiring an additional 478,728 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 130.0% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $203,337,000 after acquiring an additional 2,842,822 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $139,476,000 after acquiring an additional 52,140 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 107.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,369,331 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $136,222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,481 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,933,278 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $118,574,000 after acquiring an additional 216,387 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total value of $1,024,159.47. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 151,596 shares in the company, valued at $13,687,602.84. The trade was a 6.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total transaction of $1,051,930.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 135,351 shares in the company, valued at $10,121,547.78. This represents a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,921,594 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $109.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $113.75. The company's fifty day moving average is $82.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The business's revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. Analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.63.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.

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