III Capital Management Sells 23,207 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• III Capital Management cut its Western Digital stake by 55.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 23,207 shares and leaving it with 18,506 shares valued at about $3.19 million.
• Western Digital reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.72 beating estimates and revenue of $3.34 billion also topping expectations; revenue rose 45.5% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly upbeat, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus, while the company also lifted its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share.

III Capital Management decreased its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 55.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,506 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 23,207 shares during the period. Western Digital makes up 0.5% of III Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. III Capital Management's holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avion Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Concord Wealth Partners bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. BOKF NA boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $712.13 on Thursday. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $58.53 and a one year high of $741.85. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $470.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $320.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.52 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $450.46.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,905,270.79. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Western Digital News

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

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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