Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC Sells 307,010 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Value Aligned Research Advisors reduced its Western Digital stake by 23.7%, selling 307,010 shares and retaining 988,429 shares valued at approximately $631.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital insiders sold 23,210 shares worth about $10.4 million over the past 90 days, including sales by CEO Irving Tan and insider Cynthia Tregillis under pre-arranged trading plans.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $534.56 price target. The company recently exceeded earnings and revenue estimates, reporting adjusted EPS of $3.56 and revenue growth of 43.8% year over year.

Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC cut its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 23.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 988,429 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 307,010 shares during the period. Western Digital comprises approximately 1.6% of Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC owned about 0.29% of Western Digital worth $631,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 112,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. 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 90 days, insiders have sold 23,210 shares of company stock worth $10,440,960. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WDC. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $534.56.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: A broad rally in memory stocks lifted Western Digital alongside SK Hynix and Seagate. Investors appear to be responding to stronger memory pricing, supply tightness and continued demand from artificial-intelligence data centers. SK Hynix Surges 7% as Memory Bid Widens Beyond NAND; Seagate Rallies 5%
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s investment case is supported by AI-driven storage growth, higher hard-disk-drive pricing and expanding margins. Recent earnings also showed revenue growth and earnings above consensus, while management’s next-quarter guidance points to continued momentum. WDC Stock's Big Rally: Buy, Sell, or Hold After a 70% 6-Month Surge?
• Positive Sentiment: China’s progress in memory manufacturing is not viewed as an immediate threat because Western Digital and peers reportedly have capacity committed under multiyear contracts. That could help protect near-term pricing and margins. Why China’s Memory Chip Breakthrough Won't Crash the Market
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive, with reported price targets above the current trading level, but the stock’s sharp six-month advance has made expectations demanding. Investors are watching whether future earnings estimates can justify the valuation. WDC Stock's Big Rally: Buy, Sell, or Hold After a 70% 6-Month Surge?
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider transactions have consisted of sales rather than purchases, including a director’s sale of roughly $2.5 million in shares. Insider selling and profit-taking previously pressured WDC, while the stock’s elevated valuation leaves it vulnerable if storage-sector momentum fades. Western Digital Falls as Sector Weakness and Insider Selling Weigh on Shares

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $467.46 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $91.43 and a 52-week high of $799.87. The company's 50 day moving average price is $506.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $445.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.48%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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