Rokos Capital Management LLP Sells 176,540 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Rokos Capital Management cut its Western Digital stake by 47.1%, selling 176,540 shares and retaining 198,460 shares valued at approximately $53.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of WDC.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with 18 Buy, two Strong Buy and four Hold ratings; the consensus price target is $520.32, while recent targets range as high as $650.
• Western Digital reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 45.5% year over year and EPS of $2.72 beating estimates. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share, equivalent to a 0.1% yield.

Rokos Capital Management LLP lessened its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 47.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 198,460 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 176,540 shares during the quarter. Western Digital makes up approximately 0.4% of Rokos Capital Management LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Rokos Capital Management LLP owned approximately 0.06% of Western Digital worth $53,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Avion Wealth increased its position in Western Digital by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, BOKF NA boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 6,700.0% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WDC. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price objective on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $520.32.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $497.92 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $565.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $400.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.73 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $68.67 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. Western Digital's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 3.58%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,366,060.96. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $235,699.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 116,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at $63,640,420.80. This represents a 0.37% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,959 shares of company stock valued at $12,631,666. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital 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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