Verus Capital Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Verus Capital Partners cut its Western Digital stake by 53.8% in the first quarter, selling 1,854 shares and retaining 1,590 shares valued at approximately $430,000. Institutional investors still own 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $2.72 per share and revenue of $3.34 billion, exceeding analyst estimates; revenue rose 45.5% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $520.32, but elevated valuation, recent insider selling and high volatility remain key risks despite optimism about AI-driven data-center storage demand.

Verus Capital Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 53.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,590 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 1,854 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its position in Western Digital by 1,926.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the third quarter worth approximately $221,800,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the first quarter worth approximately $350,403,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 267.6% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,691,659 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $291,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,477 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $544.84 on Monday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $568.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $408.97. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $73.14 and a 52-week high of $799.87. The company has a market capitalization of $187.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.53 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: A significant “Power Inflow” alert, indicating strong institutional and retail buying pressure, helped trigger a sharp intraday rebound in Western Digital shares. Traders viewed the order-flow signal as bullish. Western Digital Shares Rise 4% After Key Trading Signal
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was included among AI-infrastructure stocks that could benefit from more than $750 billion in planned 2026 Big Tech spending. Rising demand for data-center storage and memory supports the company’s growth outlook. Buy 5 AI Infrastructure Stocks as Big Tech’s AI Spending Continues
• Positive Sentiment: The broader memory and storage sector rebounded strongly after a sharp selloff, lifting Western Digital alongside SanDisk, Micron, Seagate and SK Hynix. Analysts cited improving industry fundamentals, strong AI demand and limited near-term risk of semiconductor oversupply as reasons for optimism. Memory Stocks Blast Off
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerages currently assign Western Digital an average “Moderate Buy” recommendation, while investor attention has increased. The heightened interest may support trading momentum but also reflects the stock’s high volatility. Western Digital Given Average Recommendation of Moderate Buy
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling contributed to a prior decline and remains a sentiment overhang, particularly after Western Digital’s substantial rally. Western Digital Trading Down Following Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation is a key risk. Western Digital has been one of the strongest performers in the AI memory and storage trade, but its elevated valuation leaves less room for disappointment when the company reports earnings. Western Digital’s Earnings Will Test Whether Its AI Rally Has More Room

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 5,093 shares of company stock valued at $2,751,337 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $560.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $520.32.

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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