Moore Capital Management LP Buys 2,193 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Moore Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 249.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,073 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,193 shares during the quarter. Moore Capital Management LP’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Western Digital by 71.4% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 230,578 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $147,275,000 after acquiring an additional 96,078 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $193,303,000 after purchasing an additional 282,156 shares during the last quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,889,000. World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in Western Digital by 145.8% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 5,950 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 3,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Win Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,233,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,642 shares of company stock valued at $10,676,659. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $450.55 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $155.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61 and a beta of 2.14. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $77.90 and a 52 week high of $799.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $521.35 and a 200-day moving average of $442.03.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Fox Advisors cut Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $676.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.56.

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.