Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. Has $928,000 Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities cut its Western Digital stake by 65.3% in the first quarter, leaving it with 3,430 shares worth about $928,000.
• Western Digital reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings of $2.72 per share and revenue of $3.34 billion, while revenue jumped 45.5% year over year.
• Sentiment around the stock remains generally positive: analysts mostly rate WDC a Buy/Outperform, and recent commentary points to continued demand from AI-related storage growth despite some volatility in memory-chip stocks.

Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. decreased its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 65.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,430 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 6,468 shares during the quarter. Western Digital accounts for approximately 2.3% of Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WDC. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the second 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. Avion Wealth lifted its position in Western Digital by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. BOKF NA boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 6,700.0% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Research chatter turned more constructive after Melius Research was reported as bullish on Western Digital, reinforcing the view that the company is a beneficiary of AI storage demand. Melius Research is Bullish on Western Digital Corporation (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted strong fundamentals and valuation support, including comments that WDC looks inexpensive on cash flow, has beaten earnings recently, and continues to benefit from rising AI-related storage demand. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Looks Cheap On Cash Flow But Rich On Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst expectations remain generally favorable, with multiple firms maintaining buy or outperform ratings and recent price targets clustered above current levels, including a fresh upgrade in target from Susquehanna. Western Digital had its price target raised by Susquehanna
• Neutral Sentiment: Market-wide headlines about the Nasdaq, Fed minutes, and broader tech rotation are adding noise to trading, but these are not specific to Western Digital’s fundamentals. Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Swings To Score A Win; Fed Minutes Show Split On Direction
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors are still wary after the recent memory-chip selloff tied to Samsung results, which pressured WDC and peers earlier in the week and could keep sentiment choppy. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Western Digital Corporation (WDC) is a Trending Stock

Western Digital Trading Up 3.4%

Western Digital stock opened at $550.30 on Thursday. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $64.16 and a 12-month high of $799.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.85 and a beta of 2.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $548.75 and a 200 day moving average of $368.57.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. 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 3.58%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total value of $2,071,470.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 90,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 116,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% 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 a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WDC. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings cut Western Digital from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Fox Advisors downgraded Western Digital from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $502.12.

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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