China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases Shares of 13,175 Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• China Universal Asset Management purchased a new stake of 13,175 shares in Western Digital in Q4, valued at about $2.27 million.
• Other large institutions (Fred Alger, WCM, Soroban, Polar, AQR) have materially increased positions and institutional ownership stands at 92.51%, while analysts have pushed price targets higher leaving a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a $310.79 target (Bank of America raised its target to $415).
• Insiders have been net sellers—CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares and insiders disposed of 92,711 shares (~$24.3M) in the last 90 days—while the stock trades near a one‑year high (~$403), reflecting a stretched valuation and potential pullback risk.

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,175 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,270,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WDC. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $791,317,000. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $409,049,000 after buying an additional 3,339,225 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $221,800,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 175.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,071 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $78,347,000 after buying an additional 784,645 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. New Street Research set a $250.00 target price on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Western Digital from $260.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Western Digital from $200.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on Western Digital from $375.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 12th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $310.79.

Western Digital Stock Up 3.6%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $403.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $136.67 billion, a PE ratio of 40.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.77. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $38.19 and a one year high of $416.37. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $302.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 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 return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.Western Digital's revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is 5.02%.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street price‑target raises and analyst upgrades (Barclays, JPMorgan, BofA and others) have driven buy interest and momentum into the earnings print. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Broader AI storage optimism — demand from cloud/AI customers and WDC’s high‑capacity HDD roadmap (40TB‑class drives in qualification) support expectations for stronger revenue and margin recovery. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings history and near‑term expectations point to another beat — analysts and trade commentary highlight WDC’s ability to beat consensus, boosting investor positioning. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Peer/sector strength (Micron and memory group) and dedicated memory ETF flows are pulling large‑cap storage names like WDC higher as investors chase exposure to AI‑fuelled demand. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital published its FY2025 sustainability report emphasizing energy efficiency and recycled‑content initiatives — helpful for ESG investor positioning but limited immediate revenue impact. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management will appear at multiple investor conferences (Barclays, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America) in May–June, which could provide clearer guidance and sustain analyst coverage. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: SanDisk/diversified end‑market exposure (NAND + HDD + enterprise systems) is being highlighted as a revenue‑resilience factor versus pure NAND peers. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Rapid share gains have pushed valuation metrics higher; commentators warn a stretched multiple increases pullback risk if AI demand or margin assumptions disappoint. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Notable insider selling activity (disclosed Rule 10b5‑1 sales such as Cynthia Tregillis) is being flagged by trackers — routine for many executives but worth monitoring for signal/size. Read More.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total transaction of $5,108,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,586 shares in the company, valued at $159,288,807.84. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 363 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.09, for a total value of $136,883.67. Following the sale, the insider owned 120,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,259,473.07. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold 92,711 shares of company stock valued at $24,300,404 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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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