Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by Caxton Associates LLP

Key Points

• Caxton Associates cut its Western Digital stake by 92.6% in the first quarter, selling 10,297 shares and retaining 826 shares worth approximately $223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital reported quarterly EPS of $2.72, beating estimates of $2.39, while revenue rose 45.5% year over year to $3.34 billion. Growth is being supported by strong cloud and data-center demand linked to AI-generated data.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $520.32, although the stock has retreated from its high and faces concerns over valuation, AI-sector volatility and rising competition.

Caxton Associates LLP trimmed its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 92.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 826 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 10,297 shares during the quarter. Caxton Associates LLP's holdings in Western Digital were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Avion Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, BOKF NA grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% during the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $462.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.58 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $69.30 and a 52-week high of $799.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $565.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $404.28.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 114,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,663,290.57. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,767 shares of company stock valued at $13,059,607. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WDC. Weiss Ratings upgraded Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $520.32.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong demand for high-capacity hard drives from cloud providers and data centers, driven by rapidly increasing AI-generated data, is supporting Western Digital’s growth outlook. Tighter global supply could also improve pricing and margins. Why Is Western Digital Stock Surging on Wednesday?
• Positive Sentiment: Seagate’s strong results provided a read-through for Western Digital, reinforcing expectations that demand for enterprise storage remains healthy. Analysts, including Wedbush and Citigroup, have also maintained bullish views and elevated price targets. Seagate, SK Hynix, Ford, Vertiv, and More Stocks That Explain Today’s Market
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street expects earnings growth in Western Digital’s next report. Investors will focus on whether AI-related storage demand, supply tightness and pricing power can support results and forward guidance after the stock’s sharp rally. Western Digital Reports Next Week
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital previously exceeded quarterly estimates, reporting $2.72 in earnings per share versus a $2.39 consensus and revenue of $3.34 billion, up 45.5% year over year. That performance raises expectations for the upcoming report.
• Negative Sentiment: The broader AI memory trade has suffered a severe sell-off, with investors reducing exposure to high-growth chip and storage names. Western Digital has retreated substantially from its June high, increasing concerns that its valuation may have outpaced near-term fundamentals. The Memory Crash Has 4 Big Stocks Down 30% or More
• Negative Sentiment: Advances in Chinese AI technology and a strong listing by China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies are fueling concerns about future competition and whether current supply constraints will persist. Stocks Extend Slide Amid China’s AI Challenge
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 808 shares for approximately $428,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sale reduced her position by only 0.7% and is therefore a limited bearish signal.

Western Digital 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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