ING Groep NV Increases Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• ING Groep NV boosted its Western Digital stake by 226.7% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 234,710 shares worth about $40.4 million. Institutional investors overall still own 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital has been getting a lift from AI-related optimism, with news of new AI-focused storage technologies and Citigroup raising its price target by 37%. The stock recently hit fresh all-time highs amid strong analyst enthusiasm.
• The company also reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates and raising its quarterly dividend from $0.13 to $0.15. Even so, some recent weakness has come from profit-taking after the sharp run-up in the shares.

ING Groep NV increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 226.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 234,710 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 162,861 shares during the period. ING Groep NV owned about 0.07% of Western Digital worth $40,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avion Wealth increased its stake in Western Digital by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. BOKF NA increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from strong investor enthusiasm around AI-driven storage demand, with recent articles highlighting new AI-focused storage technologies, improved analyst valuation estimates, and expectations for firmer HDD and memory pricing. Why Western Digital (WDC) Is Up 12.0% After Unveiling New AI‑Focused Storage Technologies
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup reportedly raised its price target on Western Digital by 37%, helping push the stock to fresh highs as investors positioned ahead of the company’s Computex-related AI announcements. Western Digital (WDC) Hits All-Time High as Citi Hikes PT by 37%
• Positive Sentiment: The company has also been cleaning up its balance sheet and making more AI-related moves, which some investors view as supporting additional upside. Western Digital Could Be Halfway Through Retiring 2028 Convertible Debt. What It Means for the Stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital’s recent earnings were strong, with the company beating estimates and issuing upbeat guidance, but the stock still saw a short-term dip as some traders appeared to take profits after a big run. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Dips 3% Despite Strong Earnings—Should Investors Buy the Pullback?
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also notes that the broader market and semiconductor stocks have been choppy, with Broadcom’s cautious AI outlook pressuring memory names like Western Digital even after the company’s strong news flow. MU, SNDK, WDC: Memory Stocks Dip As Broadcom’s Forecast Dampens AI Sentiment, Retail Turns Buyer
• Negative Sentiment: One near-term headwind is profit-taking after Western Digital’s rapid run-up to all-time highs, which has led to some price weakness despite the longer-term bullish narrative. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Dips While Market Gains: Key Facts

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Mizuho set a $470.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $488.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $424.33.

Western Digital Stock Down 11.1%

Western Digital stock opened at $511.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $176.38 billion, a PE ratio of 30.55 and a beta of 2.13. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $422.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.77. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.60 and a twelve month high of $602.54.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.99%.

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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