Cibc World Market Inc. Boosts Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 11% in the fourth quarter, buying 5,153 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 51,887 shares valued at about $8.94 million.
• Western Digital continues to draw strong institutional and analyst interest, with hedge funds owning 92.51% of the stock and Wall Street maintaining a Moderate Buy consensus rating with an average price target of $424.33.
• The company recently posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.13 to $0.15 per share.

Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,887 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 5,153 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $8,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position 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. Avion Wealth grew its stake in Western Digital by 163.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA grew its stake in Western Digital by 6,700.0% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 312 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total transaction of $235,699.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This trade represents a 0.37% 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 sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WDC. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Western Digital to $495.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $424.33.

Western Digital Trading Down 11.1%

Western Digital stock opened at $511.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $176.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.55 and a beta of 2.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $422.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.77. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $54.60 and a 12-month high of $602.54.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 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 dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.99%.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from strong investor enthusiasm around AI-driven storage demand, with recent articles highlighting new AI-focused storage technologies, improved analyst valuation estimates, and expectations for firmer HDD and memory pricing. Why Western Digital (WDC) Is Up 12.0% After Unveiling New AI‑Focused Storage Technologies
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup reportedly raised its price target on Western Digital by 37%, helping push the stock to fresh highs as investors positioned ahead of the company’s Computex-related AI announcements. Western Digital (WDC) Hits All-Time High as Citi Hikes PT by 37%
• Positive Sentiment: The company has also been cleaning up its balance sheet and making more AI-related moves, which some investors view as supporting additional upside. Western Digital Could Be Halfway Through Retiring 2028 Convertible Debt. What It Means for the Stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital’s recent earnings were strong, with the company beating estimates and issuing upbeat guidance, but the stock still saw a short-term dip as some traders appeared to take profits after a big run. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Dips 3% Despite Strong Earnings—Should Investors Buy the Pullback?
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also notes that the broader market and semiconductor stocks have been choppy, with Broadcom’s cautious AI outlook pressuring memory names like Western Digital even after the company’s strong news flow. MU, SNDK, WDC: Memory Stocks Dip As Broadcom’s Forecast Dampens AI Sentiment, Retail Turns Buyer
• Negative Sentiment: One near-term headwind is profit-taking after Western Digital’s rapid run-up to all-time highs, which has led to some price weakness despite the longer-term bullish narrative. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Dips While Market Gains: Key Facts

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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