Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Takes $349,000 Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,906 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $349,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,305,289 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $593,045,000 after purchasing an additional 186,030 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Western Digital by 8.5% during the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 5,535,972 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $354,247,000 after buying an additional 431,419 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 17.1% during the second quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,735,296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $239,022,000 after buying an additional 545,500 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $220,680,000. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $290.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $98.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $198.69 and its 200 day moving average is $140.59. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $296.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46.

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

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorizes an additional $4 billion share repurchase, signaling management confidence and immediate capital-return support for the stock. Western Digital adds $4 billion to buyback plan as AI boosts memory chip sales
• Positive Sentiment: At Innovation Day 2026 WDC unveiled an AI-focused storage roadmap (100TB+ HDD path, capacity/performance/power gains) that addresses hyperscaler cold-storage needs and supports longer-term revenue/margin expansion. Western Digital Accelerates Storage Innovation for AI Era
• Positive Sentiment: Industry press highlights specific HDD advances (100TB roadmap, UltraSMR adoption) that improve WDC’s addressable market for AI data lakes and cloud customers — reinforces the product credibility behind the company’s growth thesis. WD Unveils Hard Drive Road Map: 100-TB-Plus Capacity, AI-Focused Innovations
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings beat and upbeat guidance (strong revenue and EPS vs. estimates) underpin the rally — analysts and thematic investors are treating WDC as a core play on the memory/storage supercycle tied to AI. 2 Computer Storage Device Stocks to Buy on Solid Earnings & Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness continues: Citi and other firms have raised price targets and ratings after the company update and earnings, adding institutional momentum. Benzinga (price target raise)
• Positive Sentiment: Executive/market commentary (Barron’s, others) frames the sector-wide lift — WDC’s CFO and management messaging that “all boats are rising” supports sentiment across memory and storage names. ‘All Boats Are Rising’ in Data and Memory, Says Western Digital’s CFO. Just Look at the Stocks.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/industry analysis (MarketBeat) argues a memory “supercycle” supports WDC, but notes wafer/supply dynamics and longer-term cycle risk — worth monitoring for potential volatility as capacity and pricing evolve. The Memory Supercycle Is Here—2 Winners From 1 Breakup

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WDC. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group set a $306.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 target price on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 1,768 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total transaction of $272,272.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,090. This represents a 33.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.00, for a total transaction of $102,363.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 143,318 shares in the company, valued at $32,819,822. This represents a 0.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,816 shares of company stock worth $1,102,348. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.