Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. Makes New Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. opened a new position in Western Digital, buying 12,000 shares valued at about $2.07 million in the fourth quarter.
• Western Digital is seeing broad institutional buying and heavy hedge fund ownership, with 92.51% of shares held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• The company’s recent backdrop is mixed but generally constructive: it beat quarterly earnings estimates, raised its dividend, and is benefiting from AI-driven storage demand, even as near-term sentiment has been pressured by supply-chain and capacity-crunch concerns.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 12,000 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,067,000. Western Digital makes up about 1.0% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $791,317,000. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $409,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,339,225 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its position in Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $221,800,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 175.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,071 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $78,347,000 after purchasing an additional 784,645 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital announced industry-first post-quantum cryptography hard drives, reinforcing its pitch that it can win more AI data-center business by offering “quantum-safe” storage security for hyperscalers. WD Advances Next-Generation Trusted Infrastructure with Industry’s First Post-Quantum Cryptography Hard Drives to Help Secure the Future of AI Data
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted that AI infrastructure is driving a storage supercycle, with stronger pricing power for enterprise SSDs and hard drives; that backdrop is favorable for Western Digital’s revenue and margins. Seagate and Western Digital: AI Storage Demand Is Now Showing Up in Pricing Power
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary suggests Western Digital’s fair value is being revised higher on stronger earnings expectations tied to AI storage demand, and one note cited a price target around $504, supporting the stock’s long-term bull case. Why The Western Digital (WDC) Story Is Shifting On New Earnings And AI Storage Expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was added to the 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index North America, a small but constructive inclusion that can improve visibility with institutional investors. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) Included in 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index North America
• Neutral Sentiment: Shares were little changed in the session after a sharp sector-wide selloff, as memory stocks including Micron and SanDisk bounced while Western Digital lagged, suggesting WDC is being pulled around by broader group trading rather than company-specific news. Micron Is Up 6% Today: Is It Outperforming Other Memory Stocks Like SanDisk and Western Digital?
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term sentiment was pressured by reports of AI supply-chain and capacity-crunch fears across memory stocks, which sparked a premarket selloff in Western Digital and peers. Micron, Seagate, Western Digital Sink On Capacity Crunch Fears

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,630.14. This represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 53,679 shares of company stock worth $18,049,314 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $455.80 on Wednesday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $360.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $262.26. The company has a market cap of $157.11 billion, a PE ratio of 27.21 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.00 and a 52-week high of $525.15.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $495.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Truist Financial set a $310.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $395.83.

About Western Digital

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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