GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Cuts Stock Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• GF Fund Management CO. LTD. reduced its stake in Western Digital by 8.1%, selling 5,274 shares and ending the quarter with 59,919 shares valued at about $10.32 million.
• Western Digital reported stronger-than-expected Q results (EPS $2.13 vs. $1.93 estimate; revenue $3.02B, up 25.2% YoY), prompting analyst upgrades and higher price targets (e.g., Bank of America $415, JPMorgan $400) and an average target of $304.29 with a "Moderate Buy" consensus.
• Despite positive fundamentals and shareholder-friendly actions (dividend and buybacks), insiders sold a total of 92,795 shares (~$24.27M) last quarter, while institutional ownership remains high at 92.51%.

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. decreased its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 59,919 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 5,274 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $10,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avion Wealth grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 124.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 207.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 3.0%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $372.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $126.30 billion, a PE ratio of 37.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.77. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $35.51 and a twelve month high of $378.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company's 50 day moving average is $293.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.98.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. Western Digital's revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 8,518 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.32, for a total transaction of $2,174,815.76. Following the sale, the insider owned 99,276 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,347,148.32. The trade was a 7.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 623,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $159,288,807.84. The trade was a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 92,795 shares of company stock worth $24,265,884 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its WDC price target to $415 and assigned a "buy" rating, signaling increased analyst conviction and implying further upside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target to $400 and moved to "overweight," another institutional upgrade supporting the rally and likely attracting more buyer interest. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Solid fundamentals and earnings momentum — WDC has a recent track record of beats and raised guidance drivers (high-capacity/HAMR drives, manufacturing productivity). Analysts and outlets highlight the company as positioned to beat again, which supports valuation multiple expansion. Will Western Digital (WDC) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Positive Sentiment: WDC reported multi‑year AI storage commitments from large customers, boosted its dividend by 25% and announced meaningful buybacks — all shareholder‑friendly actions that underpin investor confidence in continued demand from AI workloads. Western Digital (WDC) Is Up 7.7% After Securing Multi‑Year AI Storage Commitments And Boosting Payouts
• Positive Sentiment: Broader market strength (Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq gains and new highs) is lifting cyclical and growth names, providing tailwinds for WDC’s share price. Dow jumps 800 points, S&P 500 at new record, Nasdaq gains 6.8% this week
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage notes WDC hitting record highs and strong institutional buying, but also documents insider selling activity — the market reaction so far shows buyers outweighing internal selling, so this is mixed for near‑term direction. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Surges to Record Peak Despite Insider Sales Activity
• Negative Sentiment: Retail SSD price cuts (example: WD Blue SN5100 markdown) could signal near‑term ASP pressure in consumer channels and tighter margins if competition forces broader discounting. WD Blue SN5100 NVMe SSD drops to $324.61 in latest price cut

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WDC shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $375.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $240.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $380.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $304.29.

Western Digital 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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