Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C.

Key Points

• Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. reduced its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 28.6%, owning 150,000 shares worth approximately $6.06 million after selling 60,000 shares recently.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their holdings in Western Digital, with Vanguard Group Inc. raising its stake by 1.1% and Deutsche Bank AG increasing its stake by 107.1% in the first quarter.
• Analysts are optimistic about Western Digital, with benchmark price targets being raised significantly, including Wells Fargo's adjustment from $80.00 to $95.00, reflecting a generally positive outlook for the stock.

Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. reduced its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 28.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 150,000 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 60,000 shares during the quarter. Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $6,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 52.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,838 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,166,000 after buying an additional 9,974 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,406,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 144,307 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,834,000 after buying an additional 6,947 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 89,244 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $3,608,000 after buying an additional 5,711 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 8.0% during 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 buying an additional 216,387 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total value of $1,051,930.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 135,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,121,547.78. The trade was a 9.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total value of $28,557.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,218,682.50. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,361 shares of company stock valued at $3,006,534 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.39.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC traded down $1.70 during trading on Monday, reaching $80.34. The stock had a trading volume of 5,004,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,871,037. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $82.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $28.03 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.69. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $71.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.36.

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

Western Digital declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is 7.77%.

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.