Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.

Key Points

• Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. has significantly reduced its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 98.8%, selling approximately 30 million shares during the first quarter.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Western Digital, with Mizuho and Wells Fargo setting targets of $87.00 and $95.00 respectively, indicating a strong outlook for the company.
• Western Digital has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, with payment scheduled for September 18th, representing a 0.4% dividend yield.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. cut its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 98.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 373,898 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 29,997,102 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Western Digital worth $15,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WDC. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 34.1% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 242.2% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total value of $28,557.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,218,682.50. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total transaction of $654,333.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 594,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,148,052.40. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,632 shares of company stock worth $2,911,647 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $90.49 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $90.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $72.67 and a 200-day moving average of $55.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Western Digital announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to repurchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Western Digital

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.

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