Maverick Capital Ltd. Sells 454,011 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Maverick Capital Ltd. significantly reduced its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 96.9% during Q1, now holding 14,383 shares valued at $582,000.
• Western Digital recently reported earnings of $1.66 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 30.0%.
• The company has initiated a $2.00 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating management believes the stock is undervalued, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.

Maverick Capital Ltd. decreased its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 96.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,383 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 454,011 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 242.2% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WDC. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.28.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.7%

Western Digital stock traded up $1.55 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $92.04. The stock had a trading volume of 20,309,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,167,732. The stock has a market cap of $32.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.69. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $93.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.05.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. The business 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 company's revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last 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 will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total transaction of $28,557.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,218,682.50. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total transaction of $1,051,930.26. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 135,351 shares in the company, valued at $10,121,547.78. The trade was a 9.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 49,975 shares of company stock worth $3,935,806. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.