Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by Cinctive Capital Management LP

Cinctive Capital Management LP reduced its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,099 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 7,256 shares during the period. Cinctive Capital Management LP’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $34,244,000. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. raised its stake in 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 valued at $3,900,000 after buying an additional 25,987 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $1,778,000 after buying an additional 4,068 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $2,270,000. Finally, WESPAC Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $793,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Up 4.6%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $712.13 on Thursday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.53 and a 52-week high of $741.85. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $470.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $320.11. The firm has a market cap of $245.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.52 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $63,640,420.80. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total value 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 represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley boosted its outlook on Western Digital, lifting its price target and reinforcing a bullish view on HDD demand and the company’s HAMR roadmap, which helped push the shares to new highs. Western Digital Stock Just Hit a New All-Time High. Here’s Why.
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles point to surging AI infrastructure spending and cloud storage demand as the main catalyst, with Western Digital increasingly viewed as a beneficiary of the AI trade. Western Digital stock jumps as AI trade reignites
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says earnings are nearly doubling on AI and cloud demand, while estimates continue to move higher, supporting momentum-trader interest in WDC. Western Digital (WDC) Moves 4.2% Higher: Will This Strength Last?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also watching the June 22 SanDisk-related catalyst, which could influence sentiment but is not yet a confirmed financial event. Dear Western Digital Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for June 22
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary warns the rally may have run ahead of fundamentals and could be due for a near-term pullback after the stock’s massive year-to-date run. Western Digital stock looks ripe for a near-term pullback: find out more

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Western Digital from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Western Digital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $450.46.

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.