Fred Alger Management LLC Sells 722,701 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Fred Alger Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 21.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,684,341 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 722,701 shares during the quarter. Western Digital makes up about 1.8% of Fred Alger Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $462,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,707 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,982 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 369 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 889 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WDC. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $450.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,640,420.80. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its outlook on Western Digital and boosted its price target, adding to the bullish case that AI data-center growth is driving stronger-than-expected storage demand. Western Digital Stock Just Hit a New All-Time High. Here’s Why.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say WDC is benefiting from a broader re-rating of AI storage stocks, with investors focused on tight hard-disk supply, sold-out inventory, and higher pricing power. Western Digital stock jumps as AI trade reignites
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage highlighted a hyperscaler multiyear commitment to Western Digital, reinforcing confidence that demand from large cloud customers remains robust. Hyperscaler’s Multiyear Commitment with Western Digital (WDC) Highlights Robust Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also watching June 22 for the planned SanDisk-related swap, which could create another event-driven trading catalyst for WDC. Dear Western Digital Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for June 22
• Negative Sentiment: One commentary piece argued the stock may be due for a near-term pullback after its huge run-up this year, suggesting valuation and momentum risks could cap gains in the short term. Western Digital stock looks ripe for a near-term pullback: find out more

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $681.08 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $462.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $316.21. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $57.88 and a 52-week high of $729.92. The stock has a market cap of $234.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.66 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.58%.

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.