Legal & General Group Plc Buys 187,619 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Legal & General raised its stake in Western Digital by 9.8% in Q3, buying 187,619 shares to hold 2,098,618 shares (about 0.61% of the company) worth roughly $251.96 million per its recent 13F filing.
• Management is targeting >50% gross margins and EPS north of $20 and says WDC has completed its transition to a pure‑play HDD company with long‑term supply agreements and capacity committed through 2026–2028, improving revenue visibility after the Flash divestiture.
• Insiders have sold ~92,795 shares (~$24.3M) over the last three months, but analysts remain broadly constructive — MarketBeat shows a "Moderate Buy" consensus with a $265.58 target and several firms issuing higher price targets (e.g., Rosenblatt $340, Barclays $325, BofA $257).

Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,098,618 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 187,619 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.61% of Western Digital worth $251,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 124.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 551.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 207.0% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WDC shares. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $340.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Bank of America increased their target price on Western Digital from $197.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on Western Digital from $240.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, December 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $193.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $265.58.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Management is publicly targeting >50% gross margins and EPS north of $20, signaling a sustained profit‑expansion path that supports valuation and investor confidence. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) Sets Sights on 50%+ Gross Margin and EPS $20+
• Positive Sentiment: WDC says it has completed the transition to a pure‑play HDD company with long‑term supply agreements and capacity fully committed through 2026 (contracts into 2028), improving revenue visibility after the Flash divestiture and recent balance‑sheet actions. Western Digital Bets On Pure HDD Future Tied To Hyperscale Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Peer Seagate reported record exabyte shipments and margin expansion (HAMR ramp), evidence that hyperscaler demand and high‑capacity drives are driving industry‑wide margin improvement — a tailwind for WDC. Will Strong Demand Sustain Seagate's Margin Expansion Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage and industry pieces (Zacks, Wells Fargo, Cantor Fitzgerald/TD Cowen upgrades) highlight AI/cloud storage tailwinds and view recent sector weakness as a buying opportunity—this constructive research flow can lift sentiment and flows. 3 Storage Devices Stocks to Buy as the Industry Gains Momentum
• Neutral Sentiment: WDC announced a small quarterly dividend (annualized ~$0.50, low yield) — a modest buyback/dividend signal but not a major cash‑return event. MarketBeat: Western Digital (WDC)
• Neutral Sentiment: The breakout performance of spun‑off SanDisk (SNDK) and heightened retail search/coverage bring attention (and volatility) to the storage theme — can either redirect capital away from WDC or validate sector demand. 5 Reasons Why Sandisk Can Rise Another 1,500%
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer product coverage (WD Black P10 game drive review) highlights ongoing retail/consumer franchise but is unlikely to move the stock materially versus the hyperscaler/HDD narrative. In a messy world, WD Black P10 Game Drive blends storage with legacy reliability
• Negative Sentiment: An insider (Vidyadhara K. Gubbi) sold 8,518 shares (~$2.17M at ~$255), reducing that holding by ~7.9%; insider selling can create short‑term pressure or raise questions about timing despite other positive signals. SEC filing: Insider Sale

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was 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 represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total transaction of $5,108,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 623,586 shares in the company, valued at $159,288,807.84. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 92,795 shares of company stock valued at $24,265,884. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $268.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $251.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.51. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $309.90. The stock has a market cap of $91.14 billion, a PE ratio of 26.96, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.76.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Western Digital 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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