Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 27,156 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Daiwa Securities Group boosted its Western Digital stake by 45.7% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 27,156 shares and bringing its total holdings to 86,613 shares worth about $14.9 million.
• Western Digital continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with major investors like Vanguard, Norges Bank, and others holding large positions; institutions now own 92.51% of the company.
• Fundamental and market momentum remain strong: Western Digital beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, raised its dividend, and has seen bullish analyst target hikes and AI-related optimism, even as some insiders have recently sold shares.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 45.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 86,613 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 27,156 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $14,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth about $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 384,103 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 11.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $409,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,339,225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $488.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $424.33.

Western Digital Stock Down 11.1%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $511.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $176.38 billion, a PE ratio of 30.55 and a beta of 2.13. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $54.60 and a 12 month high of $602.54. The company's 50-day moving average price is $422.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $294.77.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.99%.

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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