Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its stake in Western Digital by 47.5% in the third quarter, selling 445,019 shares and leaving a holding of 491,294 shares worth about $58.99 million (0.14% of the company).
• Major institutional activity included WCM Investment Management buying a new stake (~$791M), Norges Bank adding ~$221M, and Soroban Capital dramatically increasing its position to 3,061,134 shares, helping push institutional ownership to roughly 92.5%.
• Western Digital’s outlook is strengthening: management is targeting >50% gross margins and EPS north of $20, the company has pivoted to a pure HDD focus with multi‑year hyperscale supply deals and production committed through 2026, and it recently beat quarterly earnings and declared a $0.125 quarterly dividend.

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 47.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 491,294 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 445,019 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.14% of Western Digital worth $58,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth $791,317,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at $220,680,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 1,926.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 175.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,071 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $78,347,000 after purchasing an additional 784,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd grew its stake in Western Digital by 463.4% during the 3rd quarter. Trivest Advisors Ltd now owns 920,000 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $110,455,000 after purchasing an additional 756,700 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Management is publicly targeting >50% gross margins and EPS north of $20 (management called $20+ a floor), comments that underpin a higher‑profitability narrative and support valuation. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) Sets Sights on 50%+ Gross Margin and EPS $20+
• Positive Sentiment: WDC has completed the pivot to a pure HDD company, reporting long‑term supply deals with hyperscale cloud customers, production capacity fully committed through 2026 and agreements extending to 2028 — a revenue visibility and cash‑flow positive development after the Flash divestiture and a $3.1B stake sale/debt reduction. Western Digital Bets On Pure HDD Future Tied To Hyperscale Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts (Zacks, Wells Fargo coverage referenced) are highlighting the storage sector pullback as a buying opportunity given rising AI/cloud storage demand; this analyst tone can lift investor sentiment and provide multiple catalysts for further upside. The Zacks Analyst Blog Western Digital, Seagate Technology and Sandisk
• Neutral Sentiment: WDC is drawing heightened retail/investor attention (rising search and coverage), which can increase short‑term volatility and volume — useful for liquidity but mixed for directional certainty. Investors Heavily Search Western Digital Corporation (WDC): Here is What You Need to Know
• Neutral Sentiment: The breakout performance of spun‑off SanDisk (SNDK) — now a multi‑bagger — is drawing headlines and investor capital; this can be a distraction or a positive signal for storage demand, depending on whether investors view WDC’s HDD focus as the better play. 5 Reasons Why Sandisk Can Rise Another 1,500%
• Negative Sentiment: An insider (Vidyadhara K. Gubbi) sold 8,518 shares at an average $255.32 (~7.9% reduction of that holding), a disclosure that can create short‑term selling pressure or prompt investor questions about timing and motives. SEC filing

Western Digital Trading Up 1.6%

WDC opened at $266.22 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $309.90. The company has a market cap of $90.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.76. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $249.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.86.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The firm's revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total value of $2,743,105.88. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 107,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,137,796.14. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $9,616,638.18. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 92,795 shares of company stock worth $24,265,884. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WDC. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $240.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. New Street Research set a $250.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $310.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $265.58.

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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