Fisher Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Fisher Asset Management opened a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter, buying 11,991 shares valued at about $2.07 million.
• Western Digital reported strong fiscal Q3 earnings, with EPS of $2.72 versus $2.39 expected and revenue of $3.34 billion, up 45.5% year over year. The company also issued Q4 2026 guidance of 3.10–3.40 EPS.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share from $0.13, and analysts remain generally upbeat, with a Moderate Buy consensus and average price target of $413.50.

Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,991 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,066,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in 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 last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 551.4% during the 3rd 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. Avion Wealth grew its position in 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 last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 207.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BOKF NA grew its position in 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $531.21 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $396.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.03. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $51.17 and a 1 year high of $553.50. The stock has a market cap of $183.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.71 and a beta of 2.10.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted 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 42.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. The business's 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. Equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from broad strength across memory and storage stocks, with investors betting that AI infrastructure demand will keep pricing and demand elevated for HDDs and SSDs. Not Just Micron: Memory Melt-Up Pulls SanDisk Up 8%, Western Digital Up 10%
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage points to continued gross margin improvement, with Q3 gross margin jumping to 50.5% and Q4 guidance calling for 51%-52%, helped by higher-capacity drives, better pricing, and cost controls. Can Western Digital Deliver Continued Gross Margin Improvement?
• Positive Sentiment: The company appointed former Nvidia executive Manuvir Das to its board, reinforcing the view that Western Digital is positioning itself more directly around AI and data-center growth opportunities. WD Appoints Manuvir Das to Board of Directors
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary also highlighted Western Digital as underappreciated relative to peers, with hard disk drives still seen as critical to AI storage infrastructure. Western Digital Is Making the Right Moves Amid Fierce Momentum for Memory Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: One analyst piece argued Western Digital stacks up poorly versus peers like Micron, which could temper enthusiasm even as the broader sector remains strong. Western Digital Stacks Up Poorly To Peers Like Micron, Don't Buy Here
• Neutral Sentiment: An insider sale by Cynthia Tregillis was disclosed, but it was small and made under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, so it does not appear to be a major warning sign. SEC filing

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. New Street Research set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 $29,137,796.14. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,405 shares of company stock valued at $18,575,428. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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