4,891 Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Purchased by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Key Points

• Bank Julius Baer increased its Western Digital stake by 1.6%, purchasing 4,891 shares to own 304,542 shares valued at approximately $138.3 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital reported quarterly revenue of $4.38 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $4.64, surpassing analyst expectations, while projecting roughly $5.1 billion in next-quarter revenue and $5.80 in EPS amid strong AI-related storage demand.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $591.04, though targets vary widely and recent insider selling and concerns over AI-sector valuations remain potential headwinds.

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 304,542 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 4,891 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned approximately 0.08% of Western Digital worth $138,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,602,927,000. Anther Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $901,601,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $885,565,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $350,403,000. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $627,606,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. Mizuho set a $490.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $730.00 to $450.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $740.00 to $660.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $540.00 to $430.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $591.04.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue of $4.38 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $4.64 and free cash flow of $1.38 billion, exceeding expectations. Management also forecast approximately $5.1 billion in fiscal second-quarter revenue and $5.80 in non-GAAP EPS, signaling continued strength in AI-related data-center storage demand. Western Digital slides as strong results fail to calm spending and sector worries
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst targets remain well above the current trading level, with Quiver Quantitative citing a six-month median target of $650. Several analysts view Western Digital as a major beneficiary of AI infrastructure expansion and rising demand for high-capacity nearline hard drives. Western Digital selloff and analyst targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital and Seagate are both benefiting from AI data-center spending. However, comparisons favor Seagate on some metrics, including return on equity, valuation and free-cash-flow generation, potentially affecting investor preference within the storage group. Seagate versus Western Digital
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are questioning whether AI infrastructure spending and lofty storage-sector valuations can remain sustainable. A sharp decline in Sandisk and weakness across memory and semiconductor stocks amplified pressure on WDC, even after Sandisk delivered strong results and raised guidance. Memory-sector selloff
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly capital spending of $227 million, continued buybacks and capacity and technology-transition needs have raised concerns about cash demands and future returns. Profit-taking after WDC’s substantial earlier advance may also be contributing to the decline. Quiver also reports 110 insider sales and no insider purchases over the past six months, an additional sentiment headwind. Western Digital spending and insider activity

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $366.11 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $137.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 2.27. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $132.43 and a one year high of $799.87. The company's fifty day moving average price is $421.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $416.75.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 69.20% and a return on equity of 55.62%. The company's revenue was up 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 23.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a $0.1750 dividend. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total value of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,052,185.77. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,436 shares of company stock worth $11,340,064. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation NASDAQ: WDC is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.

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