The shares of Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC) closed 9.77% higher today after the company posted better-than-expected earnings per share for its fiscal fourth quarter of 2015. The data storage company was able to beat the markets’ earnings estimate of $1.46 with non-GAAP EPS of $1.51. The reported EPS was in-line with, though on the lower end of Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC)’s earlier guidance of $1.50 to $1.60 per share. However, the company did miss Wall Streets’ revenue estimates of $3.32 billion with reported revenues of $3.19 billion, and its revenue was down by 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. The quarterly revenues were also lower than the earlier guidance of $3.3 billion to $3.4 billion released by Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC). Steve Milligan, CEO of Western Digital, said, “I am satisfied with our execution and performance in the fourth fiscal quarter in light of the weak PC market.” The storage firm announced quarterly revenue guidance of $3.2 billion to $3.3 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2016 along with EPS expectations of $1.50 to $1.60.
It has been a difficult year so far for Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC)’s stock, with its shares declining by 22.96% year-to-date. The smart money tracked by Insider Monkey maintained a bullish outlook on the storage product company during the first quarter. Among the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 56 had positions in Western Digital, with total investments of $1.81 billion. Both the aggregate investments and number of hedge fund managers investing in the company grew during the first quarter in comparison with the total investments of $1.69 billion from 46 hedge fund managers in the previous quarter. It is important to consider that the shares of Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC) were down by 17.79% in the first quarter, which makes the increase in aggregate investments even more notable.
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Unlike hedge funds, the majority of insiders making transactions were opting to sell off their stakes in the company with at least 37 insider sales conducted in 2015. Mr. Milligan himself sold 60,779 shares of the company in 2015, with the most recent sale taking place on June 26 and consisting of the sale of 400 shares.
Considering that hedge funds had a positive outlook of the company, let’s take a gander at the fresh action surrounding Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC).
How have hedgies been trading Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 56 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, an increase of ten from the fourth quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the most valuable position in Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC). Citadel Investment Group has a $279.4 million position in the stock with 3.07 million shares comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is AQR Capital Management, led by Cliff Asness, holding a $245.7 million position; 0.6% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other peers that hold long positions contain Curtis Macnguyen’s Ivory Capital (Investment Mgmt), Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick’s First Pacific Advisors LLC, and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke, and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. David Warren‘s DW Partners initiated a $16.9 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Bart Baum’s Ionic Capital Management, Brian Taylor’s Pine River Capital Management, and Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management.
Considering the positive hedge fund sentiment and positive fiscal fourth quarter 2015 financial results, we recommend initiating a new position in the company at the still-depressed share price.
Disclosure: None
