Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Reduces Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Empirical Wealth Management trimmed its stake in Western Digital by 12.8% in Q4, selling 7,130 shares and ending the quarter with 48,461 shares worth about $8.35 million, while institutional investors own roughly 92.5% of the stock.
• Significant insider selling has occurred recently — insiders sold 92,795 shares (~$24.27 million) in the last 90 days, including Director Matthew Massengill (36,926 shares, ~$9.62M) and Cynthia Tregillis (9,324 shares, ~$2.50M), leaving corporate insiders with about 0.18% ownership.
• Positive catalysts lifted the stock: Bernstein upgraded WDC to Outperform with a $340 price target, and Western Digital beat Q4 estimates (EPS $2.13 vs $1.93; revenue $3.02B vs $2.93B), helping shares jump roughly 10% to open around $297.73.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management reduced its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,461 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 7,130 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Western Digital were worth $8,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,441 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $765,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at $7,718,000. Three Seasons Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at $1,442,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 157.4% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 43,392 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $8,145,000 after purchasing an additional 26,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 135,075 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $23,269,000 after purchasing an additional 5,875 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,630.14. This trade represents a 7.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 92,795 shares of company stock worth $24,265,884 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein upgraded WDC to Outperform and doubled its price target to $340, calling the recent selloff an overreaction and labeling WDC an “attractive entry point” — this upgrade is the clearest near-term catalyst lifting the stock. Wall Street Thinks Western Digital Stock Price Will Soar Higher This Year
• Positive Sentiment: JetStor announced an 80PB high-density archive deployment for a government agency using Western Digital’s Ultrastar high-capacity drives — a direct enterprise win that supports demand for WDC’s data-center and archive HDD products. JetStor Delivers 80PB High-Density Archive for Government Agency Using WD's Trusted High-Capacity Ultrastar Drives
• Positive Sentiment: Memory and storage names led the Nasdaq rally today as investors chased momentum and dip-buying in the sector — that rotation into memory stocks is boosting WDC along with peers. Nasdaq Adds to Its Rally. Memory Stocks Led the Charge.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysis pieces argue the recent algorithm-driven selloff created a buying opportunity for memory/storage names given robust AI/cloud demand — this narrative supports continued inflows into WDC. Memory Wipe: The Great TurboQuant Miscalculation (WDC)
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of SanDisk’s spectacular post-spinoff run highlights strong AI-driven end-market demand for memory products — positive industry context but not a direct business update for WDC. Sandisk’s Path to $1,000 Per Share Runs Through the AI Memory Boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Broad analyst coverage (Zacks, others) reiterates that Wall Street views WDC as a strong AI/storage play — helpful for sentiment but varies across firms and time horizons. Wall Street Analysts Think Western Digital (WDC) Is a Good Investment: Is It?
• Negative Sentiment: Underlying volatility remains: recent algorithmic selling and a cooling in memory stocks earlier this week remind investors that WDC remains exposed to sentiment-driven swings. That risk can reverse gains quickly if headlines or demand outlooks shift. Memory Stocks Were One of 2025's Hottest Trades. Now They've Cooled Off.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $200.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Western Digital in a report on Friday, December 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $193.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $340.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $275.75.

Western Digital Stock Up 10.1%

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $297.73 on Thursday. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $319.62. The firm has a market cap of $100.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.86, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $275.42 and a 200 day moving average of $197.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio 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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