HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 52.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,023 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 5,185 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $456,884,000 after purchasing an additional 384,103 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $409,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,339,225 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $512,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228,661 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.
Western Digital News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Zacks still lists Western Digital as a top momentum stock for Q3 2026, pointing to continued investor interest in the memory chip theme and potential upside if the sector rebound continues.
- Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat noted that the memory rally may still be intact despite the broader semiconductor sell-off, which could support Western Digital if demand for memory chips remains strong.
- Positive Sentiment: A review of WD Red Plus 4TB highlighted the product as a reliable NAS hard drive, reinforcing Western Digital’s reputation in storage hardware.
- Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital was mentioned alongside other decliners as semiconductor stocks fell on fears that AI-driven chip demand may be cooling, suggesting the stock is being dragged by sector sentiment more than a fresh company-specific catalyst.
- Neutral Sentiment: Analyst-focused articles cited Western Digital’s bullish Wall Street view and strong earnings surprise history, but they did not introduce new information likely to move the stock immediately.
- Neutral Sentiment: Retail promotion news from Flipkart’s GOAT Sale included WD-branded storage devices, which is supportive for brand visibility but likely not material to the stock today.
- Negative Sentiment: The steep decline in Western Digital shares followed a broader semiconductor pullback, with investors apparently rotating out of high-flying AI and chip names.
- Negative Sentiment: Articles about Sandisk’s huge post-spin-off rally and the possibility of a stock split may remind investors of competition and relative performance within the storage space, but they mainly add narrative pressure rather than direct upside for WDC.
Western Digital Stock Performance
Western Digital stock opened at $539.00 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $539.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $360.51. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $63.67 and a 1-year high of $799.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18 and a beta of 2.11.
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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. 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 $0.12. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is 3.58%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares in the company, valued at $39,905,270.79. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts have weighed in on WDC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Citigroup increased their price target on Western Digital from $500.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $493.52.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Western Digital
About Western Digital
(
Free Report)
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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