SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda Invests $2.40 Million in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake of 20,000 shares in Western Digital during Q3, valued at approximately $2.40 million.
• Multiple large institutions also increased or initiated big positions (e.g., WCM ~$791.3M, Norges Bank ~$220.7M, Soroban and AQR sizable buys), leaving institutional investors with about 92.51% ownership of WDC.
• Insiders have sold material stock recently (84,277 shares worth ~$22.09M over three months), while analysts remain largely positive—with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target of ~$265.58.

SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 20,000 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,401,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth $791,317,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $220,680,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 175.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,071 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $78,347,000 after buying an additional 784,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd increased its stake in Western Digital by 463.4% during the third quarter. Trivest Advisors Ltd now owns 920,000 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $110,455,000 after acquiring an additional 756,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $9,616,638.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total value of $2,743,105.88. Following the sale, the insider owned 107,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,137,796.14. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 84,277 shares of company stock worth $22,091,068. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $260.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $265.58.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $245.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business's fifty day moving average price is $246.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.86. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $309.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.02%.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company completed the spin‑off of its flash business and repositioned as a pure‑play HDD supplier, reportedly selling a ~$3.1B stake and securing long‑term hyperscaler agreements that fully book HDD production through at least 2028 — this improves cash, reduces leverage and gives multi‑year revenue visibility. Western Digital Bets On Pure HDD Future With Hyperscaler AI Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Management and analysts highlight sold‑out nearline/HDD capacity for 2026 and guidance pointing to material revenue and margin expansion driven by AI (video, large‑model data), underpinning a structural re‑rating story. Western Digital: AI's Unsung Storage Backbone
• Neutral Sentiment: Options flow and institutional activity show heightened trading interest — large option bets and increased analyst coverage keep liquidity high but also increase short‑term volatility. Western Digital's Options: A Look at What the Big Money is Thinking
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer retail promotions and pricing anomalies (e.g., SSD deals) create short‑term retail noise but have limited impact on the enterprise HDD thesis that’s driving the stock. This 2TB WD SN850X is cheaper from Walmart than the equivalent 1TB model in a strange deal
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales were disclosed (senior execs sold shares on March 4), which can sap near‑term sentiment even if sales are for diversification; investors often view clustered executive selling as a caution flag. Western Digital NASDAQ: WDC Insider Sells $2,501,349.48 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warn of valuation and cyclical peak risk — some argue recent gains price in peak AI storage demand and a pullback or normalization in hyperscaler buying could trigger downside. Market anxiety after a very large prior run (and a recent sharp sell‑off episode) contributes to heavier profit‑taking. Western Digital: Strong AI Tailwinds, But Valuation Signals Cyclical Peak Risk What Drove WDC Stock's Historic 490% Jump

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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