Western Digital Corporation $WDC Stake Lessened by Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd

Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd cut its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 187,622 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 80,946 shares during the period. Western Digital accounts for 3.0% of Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd owned approximately 0.05% of Western Digital worth $22,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 12.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 52,317 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $6,281,000 after purchasing an additional 5,731 shares during the period. LBP AM SA acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth $641,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth $34,244,000. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth about $636,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 234,245 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $28,123,000 after buying an additional 61,166 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total value of $5,108,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,288,807.84. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total value of $2,743,105.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 107,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,137,796.14. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 92,795 shares of company stock valued at $24,265,884. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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 stock opened at $272.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $92.32 billion, a PE ratio of 27.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.76. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $255.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.44. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $309.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Argus set a $300.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $265.58.

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.