Night Squared LP Takes $4.25 Million Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Night Squared LP initiated a new position in Western Digital (WDC) in Q3, buying 35,424 shares valued at approximately $4.25 million.
• Insider selling has been heavy recently — insiders sold 92,795 shares worth about $24.27 million in the past 90 days (including Director Matthew Massengill’s 36,926-share sale for ~$9.62M and Cynthia Tregillis’ 9,324-share sale for ~$2.50M); insiders now own only 0.18% of the stock.
• Market backdrop is constructive: institutional ownership is ~92.51%, Western Digital authorized a $4.0 billion share buyback, analysts have raised targets (consensus "Moderate Buy", avg target $265.58), and the company recently beat EPS and revenue estimates while the stock trades up roughly 4.3% around $272.

Night Squared LP bought a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 35,424 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,253,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Western Digital by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,196,484,000 after buying an additional 243,177 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,305,289 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $593,045,000 after acquiring an additional 186,030 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter valued at $791,317,000. Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 8.5% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 5,535,972 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $354,247,000 after acquiring an additional 431,419 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 11.8% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,804,907 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $456,737,000 after acquiring an additional 402,981 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $9,616,638.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 121,682 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,643,630.14. This trade represents a 7.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 92,795 shares of company stock worth $24,265,884 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Investor focus on tight high-capacity HDD supply for cloud/AI workloads and Western Digital’s expanded $4.0 billion share-repurchase authorization is supporting the rally; the company’s Innovation Day roadmap (40TB UltraSMR ePMR HDD in hyperscaler qualification) reinforces the growth narrative for AI storage. Western Digital (WDC) rises 3.5% as AI-storage demand narrative and recent buyback authorization continue to support shares
• Positive Sentiment: Customer narrative pieces highlight strong enterprise demand for hard drives, which backs the thesis that nearline/HDD capacity remains tight and pricing power could persist. Customer Narrative on Hard Drives Bodes Well for Western Digital (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment and relative performance remain constructive: WDC has materially outperformed the broader tech sector over the past year and multiple brokers maintain bullish ratings and elevated price targets, which provides momentum and buy-side interest. How Is Western Digital's Stock Performance Compared to Other Technology Stocks?
• Positive Sentiment: Media commentators (e.g., Jim Cramer) have included WDC on watchlists as a name to buy on market dips, which can amplify flows when broader-market pullbacks occur. Cramer: Buy Western Digital, Micron, Seagate on oil-driven dips
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnership/solution announcements (e.g., VDURA combining WD Ultrastar hybrid platforms with cloud-scale AI file architecture) extend product reach but are incremental until they produce visible revenue/contract wins. VDURA to Combine Scalable WD Ultrastar Hybrid Storage Platforms with Cloud-Scale AI File Architecture
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling has been heavy recently (multiple exec sales reported), which can be interpreted negatively by some investors and may weigh on sentiment despite company-level buybacks. Western Digital (WDC) rises 3.5% as AI-storage demand narrative and recent buyback authorization continue to support shares
• Negative Sentiment: Macro pressure from rising oil and choppy futures can drag broader tech names; recent headlines show futures slipping as oil jumps, which can trigger short-term volatility for WDC. Dow Jones Futures Fall As Oil Prices Run Past $90; Oracle, Nvidia Lift These AI Names
• Negative Sentiment: Short-term pullbacks have occurred (coverage noting WDC fell more than the broader market), so momentum can reverse quickly after a sharp rally — watch valuation and volume on moves. Western Digital (WDC) Falls More Steeply Than Broader Market: What Investors Need to Know

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on WDC. Argus set a $300.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, China Renaissance started coverage on Western Digital in a research note on Friday, December 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $193.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $265.58.

Western Digital Trading Up 4.3%

WDC stock opened at $272.29 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $309.90. The firm's 50-day moving average is $255.24 and its 200 day moving average is $178.44. The company has a market capitalization of $92.32 billion, a PE ratio of 27.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 5.02%.

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.

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