Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 8,853 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp cut its stake in Western Digital by 30.3%, selling 8,853 shares in Q4 and retaining 20,333 shares worth $3.503 million.
• Western Digital beat expectations (Q3 EPS $2.72 vs $2.39; revenue $3.34B), raised Q4 guidance (EPS 3.100–3.400), prompted multiple analyst target increases (Citi and Rosenblatt to $500), and announced a higher quarterly dividend of $0.15.
• Insiders have been net sellers, disposing of 72,711 shares (~$19.19 million) in the past three months, including a 36,926‑share sale by director Matthew Massengill.

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 30.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,333 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 8,853 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Western Digital were worth $3,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 124.5% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the second 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 last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% during the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Avion Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the business'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 value of $9,616,638.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total value of $2,743,105.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 107,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,137,796.14. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 72,711 shares of company stock valued at $19,191,604. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $432.03 on Monday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $314.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $234.84. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $43.60 and a one year high of $446.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.79, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 2.99%.

Western Digital News Summary

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WDC. Citigroup boosted their price target on Western Digital from $405.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. Susquehanna restated a "neutral" rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $389.74.

Western Digital Company 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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