Danske Bank A S Trims Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Danske Bank A/S trimmed its stake in Western Digital by 12.4% in Q4, selling 47,999 shares and retaining 340,523 shares worth about $58.66 million.
• Western Digital beat Q3 estimates (EPS $2.72 vs. $2.39; revenue $3.34B vs. $3.25B), raised FY‑Q4 guidance, and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.13 to $0.15, citing stronger AI/data‑center demand.
• Analysts have raised price targets (some as high as about $500), leaving a consensus of Moderate Buy with an average target near $389.74, while institutional accumulation has risen even as insiders sold roughly 92,711 shares (~$24.3M) in the last 90 days.

Danske Bank A S lessened its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 340,523 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 47,999 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S owned approximately 0.10% of Western Digital worth $58,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth $791,317,000. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,339,225 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth $221,800,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 175.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,071 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $78,347,000 after purchasing an additional 784,645 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $488.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $389.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $9,616,638.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,630.14. The trade was a 7.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 92,711 shares of company stock valued at $24,300,404. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: WDC beat expectations: Q3 EPS $2.72 and revenue $3.34B, both above consensus, and management raised FY‑Q4 guidance (EPS and revenue) — this underpins the bullish case for continued AI/cloud storage demand. Earnings & press materials
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades/target raises followed the quarter — Citi hiked its target to $500 (Buy) citing stronger visibility into AI-driven HDD demand, lifting investor optimism. Citi raises target to $500
• Positive Sentiment: Other firms (Rosenblatt, TD Cowen and others) boosted targets or reiterated Buy as AI/data‑center demand drives margin expansion and share‑buyback capacity; the company also announced a quarterly dividend increase, signalling confidence in cash flow.
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry signal — peers (SanDisk/Seagate) also reported strong results and demand commentary, confirming sector‑wide AI storage tailwinds but raising questions about how much of that is already priced in. Reuters: sector demand
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction was mixed — the stock slipped after the beat as some traders engaged in “buy the rumor, sell the news” profit‑taking following an enormous YTD run; elevated expectations mean strong results may not produce further immediate upside. Yahoo: stock falls despite beat
• Negative Sentiment: Not all analyst moves are bullish: UBS raised its target to $375 but kept a Neutral rating — that level implies downside from current prices and provides a near‑term anchor for traders focused on risk management. Benzinga: UBS target

Western Digital Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $432.03 on Friday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $314.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.19. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $43.60 and a 52-week high of $446.62. The firm has a market cap of $146.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 49.24%. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last 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. Equities analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.61 EPS 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. Investors 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 boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.02%.

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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