L & S Advisors Inc Grows Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

L & S Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 101.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 116,345 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,667 shares during the period. Western Digital comprises about 1.3% of L & S Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $13,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Western Digital by 7.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,019 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 229.7% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $307,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 5.6% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 17,266 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,102,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at $356,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total transaction of $277,956.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,524.46. This represents a 31.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 6,780 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $1,833,922.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 136,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,932,163.62. The trade was a 4.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 70,522 shares of company stock valued at $17,661,708. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Trading Up 4.4%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $296.56 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.07. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $309.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.55 billion, a PE ratio of 29.75, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.80. 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 (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 5.02%.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Balance-sheet boost — Western Digital is selling roughly $3.17B of its SanDisk stake and arranging a debt-for-equity exchange that will convert many of those shares to pay down indebtedness, which investors view as accelerating deleveraging and improving financial flexibility. Western Digital to sell $3.17 billion stake in Sandisk
• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven demand shock — WDC says it has sold out all HDD production for 2026 as hyperscalers and AI data centers lock in capacity, implying strong pricing power, full-year demand visibility and revenue growth tailwinds. Western Digital Sold Out All 2026 Hard Drive Production as AI Centers Scramble
• Positive Sentiment: Capital-structure simplification — Western Digital converted Series A convertible preferred shares, reducing complexity in its equity and potentially making future financing / buyback decisions cleaner. Western Digital Converts Preferred Shares, Simplifying Capital Structure
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and screener momentum — WDC was added to Zacks’ Rank #1 (Strong Buy) growth list and recent analyst upgrades/price-target increases reflect improving sentiment and expectations for sustained AI-driven revenue. Best Growth Stocks to Buy for February 19th
• Neutral Sentiment: Product / retail buzz — consumer-focused promotions (e.g., low-cost 16TB Elements drives) and coverage on SSD price movements highlight ongoing demand and market visibility but have modest direct impact on WDC’s enterprise-focused rally. WD’s 16TB Elements External Hard Drive Delivers Maximum Storage at Minimum Cost
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and execution nuance — public filings show frequent insider sales over recent months; heavy insider liquidation can concern some investors even as the company monetizes assets. Western Digital climbs as Sandisk stake sale boosts debt-reduction outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Sale executed at a discount — some of the SanDisk shares are being sold at a mid-single-digit discount to the prior close and a portion is moving via structured swaps with banks; that discount and staged monetization may cap near-term proceeds and could leave future dilution/realization questions. Sandisk (SNDK) Stock: Western Digital Dumps $3.17 Billion Position at a Discount

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WDC shares. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Western Digital from $240.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.58.

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.