Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Purchased by Parsifal Capital Management LP

Key Points

• Parsifal Capital Management LP increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 32%, owning 897,574 shares, which make up 3.1% of its investment portfolio.
• Western Digital's quarterly earnings report exceeded expectations, with an EPS of $1.66 compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48, and revenue increased by 30% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4%, and has initiated a share buyback program worth $2 billion.

Parsifal Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 32.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 897,574 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 217,574 shares during the quarter. Western Digital accounts for 3.1% of Parsifal Capital Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Parsifal Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.26% of Western Digital worth $36,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 52.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,838 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 9,974 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth about $35,406,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 144,307 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,834,000 after purchasing an additional 6,947 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Western Digital by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 89,244 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $3,608,000 after purchasing an additional 5,711 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Western Digital by 8.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,933,278 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $118,574,000 after purchasing an additional 216,387 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush upped their target price on Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on Western Digital from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. BNP Paribas reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $53.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.50.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $95.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,320,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,968,828. The stock has a market cap of $33.15 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.69. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $96.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $74.44 and a 200 day moving average of $56.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%.The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. Western Digital's revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total value of $1,051,930.26. Following the transaction, the insider owned 135,351 shares in the company, valued at $10,121,547.78. This trade represents a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 3,160 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $239,148.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,560 shares in the company, valued at $2,388,460.80. This represents a 9.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,975 shares of company stock worth $3,935,806 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Profile

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.