Jupiter Topco LLC Buys Shares of 48,571 Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Jupiter Topco LLC bought 48,571 Western Digital shares worth approximately $31 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors now own 92.51% of WDC’s outstanding stock.
• Western Digital reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion and EPS of $3.56, beating estimates. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $534.56, citing AI, cloud and data-storage demand.
• Despite favorable fundamentals, WDC remains volatile: the stock opened at $459.45 after trading between $77.90 and $799.87 over the past year. Insiders have sold 26,117 shares worth about $12.1 million over the last 90 days, primarily through pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.

Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 48,571 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $31,021,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 28.6% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s long-term outlook remains supported by demand for AI infrastructure, cloud computing, enterprise storage, automotive systems and other data-intensive applications. Analysts at Zacks continue to identify WDC as a potential beneficiary of strong memory and storage demand, particularly following Nvidia’s solid results. 4 High-Flying Memory and Storage Giants
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest quarterly results provide fundamental support: revenue rose 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion, while earnings of $3.56 per share exceeded expectations. Guidance for $3.85 to $4.15 in next-quarter EPS also remains constructive.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street’s consensus remains bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target above the current trading level. Several firms have cited continued AI and storage demand as reasons for further upside. Wall Street’s Bullish Views on WDC
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider Cynthia Tregillis sold a small portion of her holdings under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The transactions modestly reduce her position but do not necessarily signal deteriorating confidence. Cynthia Tregillis Insider Transactions
• Negative Sentiment: Memory and storage stocks sold off even after Nvidia reported strong results, suggesting investors are taking profits from an extended AI trade and differentiating among suppliers. Western Digital’s underperformance versus peers has amplified concern that expectations or valuation may have become too aggressive. Why Memory Stocks Fell Despite Nvidia’s Results

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 112,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,117 shares of company stock valued at $12,053,353. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WDC. Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings cut Western Digital from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Barclays upped their target price on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $459.45 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $77.90 and a 52-week high of $799.87. The company has a fifty day moving average of $526.99 and a 200-day moving average of $439.63. The company has a market capitalization of $158.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The firm's revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

Western Digital Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WDC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source