Bellwether Advisors LLC Takes $3.06 Million Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Bellwether Advisors LLC opened a new position in Western Digital during Q4, buying 17,743 shares valued at about $3.06 million.
• Western Digital is getting a lift from AI-driven demand and a broader rally in memory/storage stocks, while analysts remain largely constructive with a Moderate Buy consensus and multiple raised price targets.
• The company beat quarterly expectations with $2.72 EPS on $3.34 billion in revenue and also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share, though recent insider selling may temper enthusiasm.

Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 17,743 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,057,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 207.0% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BOKF NA lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 6,700.0% during the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from a sector-wide rally in memory and storage stocks after Micron’s surge sparked bullish sentiment across the AI memory complex. Not Just Micron: Memory Melt-Up Pulls SanDisk Up 8%, Western Digital Up 10%
• Positive Sentiment: Articles highlight growing storage demand as more people use large language models and AI systems, supporting the idea that Western Digital’s products will be needed more in future data centers. Why Is Everyone Talking About Western Digital Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s recent post-quantum cryptography rollout in its Ultrastar UltraSMR drives is being framed as a strategic move for next-generation AI infrastructure and storage security. Is Western Digital (WDC) the Best Performing Data Center Stocks So Far in 2026?
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage simply notes that Western Digital has been one of the stronger-performing data center/storage stocks this year, reinforcing momentum rather than introducing a new fundamental catalyst. Is Western Digital (WDC) the Best Performing Data Center Stocks So Far in 2026?
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling, including roughly $18 million in shares, may temper some enthusiasm because it can signal limited near-term confidence from executives. Western Digital Insiders Sold US$18m Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $488.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $406.42.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $524.65 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $382.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.09. The company has a market cap of $180.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.32 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $50.62 and a 52-week high of $536.12.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.Western Digital's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. 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. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total transaction of $2,743,105.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 107,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,137,796.14. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,643,630.14. This trade represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 53,347 shares of company stock valued at $17,974,293 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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