Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by Brevan Howard Capital Management LP

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP trimmed its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 38.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,773 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 40,890 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $7,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Western Digital by 7.7% in 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. increased its position in 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 worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $307,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 294.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,770 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 2,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $308,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total transaction of $2,501,349.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 121,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,643,630.14. This trade represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 8,518 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.32, for a total value of $2,174,815.76. Following the transaction, the insider owned 99,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,347,148.32. This represents a 7.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 92,795 shares of company stock worth $24,265,884 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. New Street Research set a $250.00 price objective on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial set a $310.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.58.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Investor focus on tight high-capacity HDD supply for cloud/AI workloads and Western Digital’s expanded $4.0 billion share-repurchase authorization is supporting the rally; the company’s Innovation Day roadmap (40TB UltraSMR ePMR HDD in hyperscaler qualification) reinforces the growth narrative for AI storage. Western Digital (WDC) rises 3.5% as AI-storage demand narrative and recent buyback authorization continue to support shares
• Positive Sentiment: Customer narrative pieces highlight strong enterprise demand for hard drives, which backs the thesis that nearline/HDD capacity remains tight and pricing power could persist. Customer Narrative on Hard Drives Bodes Well for Western Digital (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment and relative performance remain constructive: WDC has materially outperformed the broader tech sector over the past year and multiple brokers maintain bullish ratings and elevated price targets, which provides momentum and buy-side interest. How Is Western Digital’s Stock Performance Compared to Other Technology Stocks?
• Positive Sentiment: Media commentators (e.g., Jim Cramer) have included WDC on watchlists as a name to buy on market dips, which can amplify flows when broader-market pullbacks occur. Cramer: Buy Western Digital, Micron, Seagate on oil-driven dips
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnership/solution announcements (e.g., VDURA combining WD Ultrastar hybrid platforms with cloud-scale AI file architecture) extend product reach but are incremental until they produce visible revenue/contract wins. VDURA to Combine Scalable WD Ultrastar Hybrid Storage Platforms with Cloud-Scale AI File Architecture
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling has been heavy recently (multiple exec sales reported), which can be interpreted negatively by some investors and may weigh on sentiment despite company-level buybacks. Western Digital (WDC) rises 3.5% as AI-storage demand narrative and recent buyback authorization continue to support shares
• Negative Sentiment: Macro pressure from rising oil and choppy futures can drag broader tech names; recent headlines show futures slipping as oil jumps, which can trigger short-term volatility for WDC. Dow Jones Futures Fall As Oil Prices Run Past $90; Oracle, Nvidia Lift These AI Names
• Negative Sentiment: Short-term pullbacks have occurred (coverage noting WDC fell more than the broader market), so momentum can reverse quickly after a sharp rally — watch valuation and volume on moves. Western Digital (WDC) Falls More Steeply Than Broader Market: What Investors Need to Know

Western Digital Stock Up 4.3%

WDC opened at $272.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. The company has a market cap of $92.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.31, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.76. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $309.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $255.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The business had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 5.02%.

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.