Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Raises Stock Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its Western Digital stake by 168.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 52,882 shares worth about $9.1 million.
• Western Digital is benefiting from AI-driven storage demand, with reports citing a storage supercycle, stronger pricing power, and improved earnings expectations that have led analysts to raise price targets.
• The company recently beat earnings and revenue estimates for the quarter, posted 45.5% year-over-year revenue growth, and also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.13 to $0.15 per share.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 168.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,882 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 33,158 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Western Digital were worth $9,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,196,484,000 after purchasing an additional 243,177 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth about $791,317,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Western Digital by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $456,884,000 after buying an additional 384,103 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 11.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,804,907 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $456,737,000 after acquiring an additional 402,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $409,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,339,225 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital announced industry-first post-quantum cryptography hard drives, reinforcing its pitch that it can win more AI data-center business by offering “quantum-safe” storage security for hyperscalers. WD Advances Next-Generation Trusted Infrastructure with Industry’s First Post-Quantum Cryptography Hard Drives to Help Secure the Future of AI Data
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted that AI infrastructure is driving a storage supercycle, with stronger pricing power for enterprise SSDs and hard drives; that backdrop is favorable for Western Digital’s revenue and margins. Seagate and Western Digital: AI Storage Demand Is Now Showing Up in Pricing Power
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary suggests Western Digital’s fair value is being revised higher on stronger earnings expectations tied to AI storage demand, and one note cited a price target around $504, supporting the stock’s long-term bull case. Why The Western Digital (WDC) Story Is Shifting On New Earnings And AI Storage Expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was added to the 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index North America, a small but constructive inclusion that can improve visibility with institutional investors. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) Included in 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index North America
• Neutral Sentiment: Shares were little changed in the session after a sharp sector-wide selloff, as memory stocks including Micron and SanDisk bounced while Western Digital lagged, suggesting WDC is being pulled around by broader group trading rather than company-specific news. Micron Is Up 6% Today: Is It Outperforming Other Memory Stocks Like SanDisk and Western Digital?
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term sentiment was pressured by reports of AI supply-chain and capacity-crunch fears across memory stocks, which sparked a premarket selloff in Western Digital and peers. Micron, Seagate, Western Digital Sink On Capacity Crunch Fears

Western Digital Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of WDC opened at $455.80 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $360.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $262.26. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.00 and a 12-month high of $525.15. The firm has a market cap of $157.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.21 and a beta of 2.10.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total transaction of $2,743,105.88. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 107,794 shares in the company, valued at $29,137,796.14. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total transaction of $2,501,349.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,630.14. This represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 53,679 shares of company stock valued at $18,049,314 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on WDC. Citigroup boosted their price target on Western Digital from $405.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Western Digital from $405.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $335.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $395.83.

Western Digital Company 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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