Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $559.25 Million in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management acquired 875,582 Western Digital shares worth approximately $559.25 million, giving it a 0.25% stake. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 92.51% of WDC.
• Western Digital exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.56 in EPS and $3.75 billion in revenue, with revenue up 43.8% year over year. The company issued fiscal Q1 2027 EPS guidance of $3.85–$4.15.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $534.56 target price, though elevated expectations, storage-market volatility and recent insider selling remain risks. Western Digital also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 875,582 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $559,252,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.25% of Western Digital at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter worth $32,000. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. BOKF NA raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% during the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $508.80 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $556.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 2.14. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $73.14 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital's revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 2.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. Summit Insights downgraded shares of Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $534.56.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Sector rally supports WDC. SanDisk’s bullish long-term growth targets, including expectations for sustained flash-memory demand, boosted sentiment toward storage companies. Western Digital benefited from the read-through, particularly as investors anticipate continued AI infrastructure spending on HDD and NAND storage. SanDisk outlook article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and quantitative signals improved. Zacks upgraded Western Digital to Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” citing improving earnings prospects. WDC was also included among Zacks’ top momentum stocks, while JPMorgan reportedly raised its price target to $650. Zacks upgrade article
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results provide fundamental support. Western Digital’s latest quarter exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, with revenue rising 43.8% year over year. Stronger pricing, high-capacity drive demand and AI-driven storage requirements are supporting expectations for continued growth. WDC sector rally article
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning is mixed: JPMorgan and Capital World Investors added shares, while several large investors reduced holdings. The conflicting activity does not establish a clear institutional trend.
• Negative Sentiment: Elevated expectations remain a risk. Despite the earnings beat, WDC shares previously fell sharply because management’s guidance did not exceed demanding investor expectations. Concerns remain about moderating sequential growth, NAND pricing volatility and whether the AI-driven storage cycle has peaked. WDC earnings reaction article
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling may weigh on sentiment. CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares for approximately $8.9 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Broader data shows substantial insider selling and no reported insider purchases during the past six months. CEO insider sale article

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

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 shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% 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 sold 25,093 shares of company stock valued at $11,650,737 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.

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.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source