Fred Alger Management LLC Has $409.05 Million Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Fred Alger Management LLC grew its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 4,923.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,339,225 shares during the period. Western Digital makes up 1.6% of Fred Alger Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $409,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $791,317,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter worth $220,680,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 175.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,071 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $78,347,000 after buying an additional 784,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd increased its holdings in Western Digital by 463.4% in the 3rd quarter. Trivest Advisors Ltd now owns 920,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $110,455,000 after buying an additional 756,700 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about 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 Trading Up 4.3%

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $272.29 on Monday. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $309.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.83. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.77 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

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 transaction of $5,108,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,586 shares in the company, valued at $159,288,807.84. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $9,616,638.18. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 92,795 shares of company stock valued at $24,265,884 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WDC. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group set a $306.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $240.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $260.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.58.

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.