Dearborn Partners LLC Takes $432,000 Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Dearborn Partners LLC disclosed a new fourth-quarter position in Western Digital, buying 2,508 shares valued at about $432,000.
• Western Digital has seen strong institutional and analyst support, with several firms raising price targets and the stock now carrying a Moderate Buy consensus rating and a $424.33 average target price.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, lifted its dividend from $0.13 to $0.15 per share, and continues to benefit from optimism around AI-driven storage demand.

Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,508 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $432,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Avion Wealth grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. BOKF NA grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WDC. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $424.33.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $511.72 on Monday. The stock 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 fifty-two week low of $54.60 and a fifty-two week high of $602.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $422.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $295.71.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. 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. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.58%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at $63,640,420.80. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is 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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