Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by Alight Capital Management LP

Alight Capital Management LP cut its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 75.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,000 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 30,000 shares during the period. Alight Capital Management LP's holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Avion Wealth lifted its position in Western Digital by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. BOKF NA increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $33,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price target on Western Digital from $500.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Western Digital to $495.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $450.46.

Western Digital Trading Up 4.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $712.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $245.46 billion, a PE ratio of 42.52 and a beta of 2.13. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.53 and a 1 year high of $741.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $470.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $320.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is 3.58%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at $47,366,060.96. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley boosted its outlook on Western Digital, lifting its price target and reinforcing a bullish view on HDD demand and the company’s HAMR roadmap, which helped push the shares to new highs. Western Digital Stock Just Hit a New All-Time High. Here's Why.
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles point to surging AI infrastructure spending and cloud storage demand as the main catalyst, with Western Digital increasingly viewed as a beneficiary of the AI trade. Western Digital stock jumps as AI trade reignites
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says earnings are nearly doubling on AI and cloud demand, while estimates continue to move higher, supporting momentum-trader interest in WDC. Western Digital (WDC) Moves 4.2% Higher: Will This Strength Last?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also watching the June 22 SanDisk-related catalyst, which could influence sentiment but is not yet a confirmed financial event. Dear Western Digital Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for June 22
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary warns the rally may have run ahead of fundamentals and could be due for a near-term pullback after the stock’s massive year-to-date run. Western Digital stock looks ripe for a near-term pullback: find out more

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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