DNB Asset Management AS Trims Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• DNB Asset Management AS cut its Western Digital stake by 92.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 851,978 shares and ending with 66,485 shares worth about $11.45 million.
• Despite the large sale, institutional ownership remains high at 92.51%, and several other funds recently added to or initiated positions in WDC.
• Wall Street sentiment remains upbeat: analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $395.83, while Western Digital also reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and raised its dividend.

DNB Asset Management AS decreased its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 92.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66,485 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 851,978 shares during the quarter. DNB Asset Management AS's holdings in Western Digital were worth $11,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,698,000 after buying an additional 3,019 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 229.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 55.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Truist Financial set a $310.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $488.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho set a $470.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $395.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total transaction of $2,743,105.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 107,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,137,796.14. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 53,679 shares of company stock worth $18,049,314 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was named to the 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index North America, highlighting its ESG and sustainable AI infrastructure leadership. The company also said the index inclusion and improved operating profile reflect its growing role in AI data storage demand. WD Named to 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best‑in‑Class Index North America, Recognizing Leadership in Sustainable AI Infrastructure
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to point to Western Digital’s AI storage exposure, with articles citing surging earnings, rising hyperscaler demand, and stronger shareholder returns after the SanDisk spinoff as reasons the stock has been trending higher. WDC's Whopping 893% Run in a Year: Buy the Stock Amid AI Storage Boom?
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a 20% dividend increase, which investors may view as a sign of confidence in cash flow and capital returns alongside record AI-related demand for its storage and data platforms. Western Digital Links Higher Dividend And ESG Index Win To AI Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital is also showing up on “trending stock” lists, suggesting elevated investor interest, but these mentions do not add new fundamental information by themselves. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Western Digital Corporation (WDC) is a Trending Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate note said Western Digital’s price target was raised, which can support sentiment but is still secondary to the bigger AI-storage and capital-return story. Western Digital (WDC) price target increased by 31.02% to 483.72
• Negative Sentiment: No major company-specific negative catalyst emerged in the latest headlines, though some coverage compares Western Digital with peers such as Micron and Seagate, which keeps valuation and competition in focus. Why I'd Rather Own Micron Stock Than Sandisk

Western Digital Stock Up 0.0%

WDC stock opened at $482.20 on Monday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.00 and a 52 week high of $525.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $352.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.79 and a beta of 2.10.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 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 42.95%. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital's quarterly revenue 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.99%.

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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