Polymer Capital Management HK LTD cut its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Free Report) by 62.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,883 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 101,679 shares during the period. Western Digital comprises 1.5% of Polymer Capital Management HK LTD’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $10,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avion Wealth grew its position in Western Digital by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. BOKF NA lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% in the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Activity at Western Digital
In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total transaction of $235,699.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Western Digital News Roundup
- Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Western Digital from $530 to $650 and reiterated an overweight rating, signaling more upside potential for the shares. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: The company announced a Sandisk share exchange with institutional investors, a move that has been interpreted as supportive of the stock and part of a broader capital strategy. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital highlighted AI-focused storage innovation at Computex, reinforcing the market’s view that it is well positioned to benefit from data-center and AI infrastructure spending. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts also pointed to strong free cash flow, a larger dividend, and a new $4 billion buyback plan, which supports the investment case by showing confidence in cash generation and shareholder returns. Article Title
- Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital has been outperforming the broader market over the past year, and brokerages still generally rate the stock a moderate buy, which supports sentiment but is more of a confirmation than a new catalyst. Article Title
- Negative Sentiment: One recent market note said WDC slipped with the broader market after a hotter-than-expected CPI report revived rate-hike concerns, showing that macro pressure can still weigh on the stock at times. Article Title
Western Digital Price Performance
Shares of WDC stock opened at $562.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $194.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.61 and a beta of 2.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $447.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $307.91. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $54.60 and a one year high of $602.54.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 3.58%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have recently weighed in on WDC. UBS Group boosted their target price on Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $443.71.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Western Digital
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.
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