76,100 Shares in Western Digital Corporation $WDC Bought by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Key Points

• Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co opened a new position of 76,100 shares in Western Digital during Q4, valued at about $13.11 million, while institutional investors now own roughly 92.51% of the stock.
• Western Digital reported a strong quarter — EPS $2.72 vs. $2.39 expected and revenue of $3.34B (up 45.5% YoY) — and set Q4 guidance of 3.100–3.400 EPS, with analysts holding a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $395.83.
• The company boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.15 (ex-dividend June 5, payable June 17), and the stock has rallied toward recent highs amid analyst price‑target increases and bullish media coverage.

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 76,100 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,110,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WDC. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 124.5% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% during the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Westfuller Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Avion Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Mizuho set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. Finally, New Street Research set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $395.83.

Western Digital Stock Up 2.5%

Western Digital stock opened at $442.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $149.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.60 and a 1-year high of $453.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $314.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's payout ratio is 2.99%.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: High-profile bullishness: Jim Cramer flagged AI memory/storage names including Western Digital as having more upside, drawing retail and momentum buying into the group. Jim Cramer Says 'Overheated' Storage Stocks Still Have Room To Run: SanDisk, Seagate, Western Digital Will 'Gallop' Higher
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price-target lifts: Robert W. Baird raised its price target to $450 with an Outperform rating — a formal broker upgrade that supports further buying. Western Digital NASDAQ: WDC Price Target Raised to $450.00 at Robert W. Baird
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings beat & follow‑on analyst lifts: Coverage noted WDC’s fiscal Q3 beat (reported $2.72 EPS) and subsequent analyst target increases (some as high as ~$660), which underpins the rally and investor expectations for continued AI-driven revenue and margin expansion. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Surges as Analysts Set $660 Price Target Following Q3 Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming catalyst: Analysts and media are flagging June 5 as a key date tied to dividend-hike expectations and continued AI demand momentum, giving investors a near-term event to watch. Dear Western Digital Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for June 5
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader coverage/visibility: Several outlets (Seeking Alpha, Zacks, TipRanks, Yahoo) are re-evaluating WDC after the beat, increasing visibility — helpful for liquidity but not a direct fundamental change. Undercovered Dozen: Western Digital, SAP, Toast, And More
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry context: Coverage comparing WDC and Seagate highlights the HDD duopoly and the firms’ exposure to AI storage demand; useful for longer-term positioning but mixed on which stock is the better buy. Seagate and Western Digital Are a Hard Disk Drive Duopoly. Barchart Ranks the Storage Stocks Here.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary roundup: Several outlets summarize sell‑side forecasts and price-target dispersion — positive on average but with a range, so monitor further revisions and guidance execution. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Forecast — What Financial Analysts Expect after Q3 Earnings

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 121,682 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,643,630.14. This trade represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $9,616,638.18. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 72,711 shares of company stock valued at $19,191,604 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.

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