Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Acquired by Cantor Fitzgerald L. P.

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. increased its WDC position by 399.8% in Q3, holding 32,487 shares after adding 25,987 shares, valued at about $3.9 million.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently — 92,795 shares sold in the last three months (≈$24.3 million), including CEO Irving Tan’s sale of 20,000 shares at $255.44.
• Western Digital reported stronger-than-expected results (Q EPS $2.13 vs. $1.93 estimate; revenue up 25.2% year-over-year), while announcing a $4.0 billion share-repurchase authorization and promoting AI-storage product roadmap that’s supporting the rally.

Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 399.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,487 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 25,987 shares during the quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,196,484,000 after purchasing an additional 243,177 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 2.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 186,030 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at approximately $791,317,000. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position 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 buying an additional 431,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,804,907 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $456,737,000 after buying an additional 402,981 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total value of $5,108,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 623,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $159,288,807.84. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. 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 dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total transaction of $2,743,105.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 107,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,137,796.14. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 92,795 shares of company stock valued at $24,265,884. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 4.3%

Shares of WDC opened at $272.29 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $255.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.13. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $309.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.31, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.76.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WDC shares. China Renaissance started coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, December 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $193.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $260.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. 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. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $340.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $265.58.

Western Digital News Summary

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

About Western Digital

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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