Apollon Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Apollon Wealth Management boosted its stake in Western Digital by 91% in Q4 to 6,516 shares (worth $1.12M), and other institutions also added exposure — institutional ownership is ~92.5%.
• Analysts turned bullish as AI-driven memory demand lifts the thesis for HDD/SSD/NAND: multiple firms raised ratings and targets (e.g., Citigroup to $405, Bernstein to $340, Evercore to $378), supporting positive sentiment for WDC.
• Insider selling totaled about 92,795 shares (~$24.3M) in the past 90 days (including CEO and director sales), a signal to monitor along with the company’s upcoming April 30 earnings that could add volatility.

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 91.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,516 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 3,105 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,019 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 229.7% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages raised ratings and price targets on WDC, lifting investor sentiment—Bernstein upgraded to Outperform and raised its target to $340. Analysts Positive on Western Digital (WDC) as AI Boosts Memory Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Citi / Citigroup raised price targets on WDC (and Seagate), keeping Buy ratings as they see AI data growth supercharging storage pricing; separate reports cite Citigroup boosting WDC to $405. Citi Raises Seagate and Western Digital Targets
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore and other firms highlight SanDisk/WDC as core beneficiaries of an AI “picks-and-shovels” trade; Evercore raised its WDC target to $378, reinforcing momentum for WD-branded NAND/SSD assets. A Massive Storage Shift Is Underway — And Western Digital (WDC) May Be At The Center
• Positive Sentiment: Sector momentum: memory and HDD stocks (including WDC, SanDisk, Seagate, Micron) have been leading the chip rally as investors rotate into AI infrastructure plays. Nvidia's AI Reign Under Threat: These 4 Memory Stocks Are Now Leading The Chip Rally
• Positive Sentiment: Company messaging from the Q1 2026 earnings call and transcript emphasizes HDDs as the most cost-effective solution for zettabyte-scale AI storage and describes internal AI usage to speed product development—this supports both revenue and margin narratives. Western Digital (WDC) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Roundhill launched a DRAM-focused ETF to capitalize on AI memory demand, which may channel incremental institutional flows into memory-related names including WDC. This New ETF Aims to Capitalize on Surging AI Memory Chip Demand (WDC)
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital scheduled its next quarterly results release for April 30, 2026 — an event that could add volatility depending on guidance and execution vs. lofty expectations. Sandisk Bumps Atlassian Off the Nasdaq 100
• Neutral Sentiment: Retail promotions (e.g., a sale on WD Blue SSD) are minor consumer-level items and unlikely to move the stock materially. Western Digital WD Blue SA510 SATA SSD drops to $299.99
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling was reported (~$16M of divestitures), which some investors view as a cautionary signal amid rapid run-ups—worth monitoring but not unusual after big gains. More Money In The Bank For Western Digital Insiders Who Divested US$16m

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total value of $5,108,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $159,288,807.84. This trade represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $9,616,638.18. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 92,795 shares of company stock valued at $24,265,884. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Stock Up 4.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $366.22 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $287.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.10. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $35.00 and a 12-month high of $366.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. The business 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 was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WDC shares. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Western Digital to $405.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group set a $306.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, January 30th. Susquehanna reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, January 30th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.33.

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.

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