John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Trims Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• John G Ullman & Associates cut its Western Digital position by 48.7% in the first quarter, selling 31,350 shares and leaving it with 32,958 shares worth about $8.9 million.
• Western Digital has been getting mixed but mostly constructive analyst attention, with recent price targets ranging from $340 to $575 and a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, raising its dividend to $0.15 per share, while recent reports have tied the stock’s moves to broader AI-driven memory and storage demand as well as sector volatility.

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lessened its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 48.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,958 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 31,350 shares during the quarter. Western Digital comprises 1.2% of John G Ullman & Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $8,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Western Digital by 229.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: New coverage says Western Digital is well positioned to benefit from global AI infrastructure growth, with rising demand for advanced memory and storage supporting a stronger long-term revenue outlook. 4 Top-Ranked Memory Stocks to Buy as AI Infrastructure Expands Globally
• Positive Sentiment: Another report highlighted Western Digital as one of two smaller AI storage names that could benefit from expanding data center demand, citing improving margins and earnings growth potential. Everyone's Buying NVIDIA, but 2 Smaller AI Stocks Could Soar Higher
• Positive Sentiment: A separate Zacks piece argues AI data growth is accelerating HDD demand and that Western Digital’s focused strategy could help it capture hyperscale storage opportunities. AI Data Growth is Exploding: Can Western Digital Keep Up?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several market wrap-ups noted high volatility in tech and momentum stocks, which is adding noise to trading in Western Digital and other memory names. The Tech Shakeout: Market Extremes & Gavin Baker's Bold Call
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street commentary also flagged Western Digital as part of a broader AI-memory trade, with analysts still generally constructive but market sentiment swinging sharply day to day. Which Storage Stock Is Best Positioned to Win the AI Memory War?
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports said Western Digital fell alongside SanDisk and Micron as investors took profits in semiconductor and memory stocks, reflecting sector-wide rotation rather than company-specific trouble. Nasdaq Slips as Chip Stocks Come Under Pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital also faced a post-rally pullback as traders reassessed how durable the AI-driven storage boom will be ahead of the company’s next earnings report and guidance. Why Western Digital (WDC) Stock Is Down Today

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on WDC shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings raised Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $560.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday. Finally, Fox Advisors downgraded Western Digital from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $520.32.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $477.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $164.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.49 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $66.04 and a one year high of $799.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $560.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $384.59.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business's revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's payout ratio is 3.58%.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 85,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 in the last three months. 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WDC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.