Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC Sells 5,862 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Zweig DiMenna Associates reduced its Western Digital stake by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,862 shares and leaving it with 83,138 shares valued at about $14.3 million.
• Western Digital is drawing bullish attention from investors and analysts amid AI-driven demand for memory and storage, with multiple firms raising price targets and the stock trading near its 52-week high.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and also increased its quarterly dividend from $0.13 to $0.15 per share.

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,138 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 5,862 shares during the period. Western Digital accounts for approximately 0.9% of Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $14,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WDC. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 12.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 52,317 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $6,281,000 after acquiring an additional 5,731 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter worth $34,244,000. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 399.8% in the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $3,900,000 after acquiring an additional 25,987 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 75.4% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 4,068 shares during the period. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $2,270,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from broad strength across memory and storage stocks, with investors betting that AI infrastructure demand will keep pricing and demand elevated for HDDs and SSDs. Not Just Micron: Memory Melt-Up Pulls SanDisk Up 8%, Western Digital Up 10%
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage points to continued gross margin improvement, with Q3 gross margin jumping to 50.5% and Q4 guidance calling for 51%-52%, helped by higher-capacity drives, better pricing, and cost controls. Can Western Digital Deliver Continued Gross Margin Improvement?
• Positive Sentiment: The company appointed former Nvidia executive Manuvir Das to its board, reinforcing the view that Western Digital is positioning itself more directly around AI and data-center growth opportunities. WD Appoints Manuvir Das to Board of Directors
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary also highlighted Western Digital as underappreciated relative to peers, with hard disk drives still seen as critical to AI storage infrastructure. Western Digital Is Making the Right Moves Amid Fierce Momentum for Memory Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: One analyst piece argued Western Digital stacks up poorly versus peers like Micron, which could temper enthusiasm even as the broader sector remains strong. Western Digital Stacks Up Poorly To Peers Like Micron, Don't Buy Here
• Neutral Sentiment: An insider sale by Cynthia Tregillis was disclosed, but it was small and made under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, so it does not appear to be a major warning sign. SEC filing

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 214 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $539.63, for a total transaction of $115,480.82. Following the sale, the insider owned 117,157 shares in the company, valued at $63,221,431.91. This trade represents a 0.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,405 shares of company stock worth $18,575,428. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $531.21 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $51.17 and a 52-week high of $553.50. The company has a market capitalization of $183.10 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71 and a beta of 2.10. The business's fifty day moving average is $396.29 and its 200 day moving average is $281.03.

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 return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WDC shares. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price target on Western Digital from $405.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen raised their price target on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Western Digital from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.50.

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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