M&T Bank Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Western Digital by 1,481.8%, adding 208,803 shares to hold 222,894 shares worth about $38.4 million at quarter‑end.
• Wall Street sentiment has turned bullish—firms like Barclays, JPMorgan and Evercore have raised price targets into the $400s and the consensus ranks WDC a "Moderate Buy" as AI‑driven memory demand pushes the stock toward 52‑week highs.
• Insiders have sold 92,711 shares (~$24.3M) over the past 90 days, including sizeable director sales, which could be a cautionary signal despite heavy institutional ownership (92.51%).

M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 1,481.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 222,894 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 208,803 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp owned about 0.07% of Western Digital worth $38,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WDC. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 124.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% during 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 last quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,643,630.14. This trade represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $9,616,638.18. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 92,711 shares of company stock valued at $24,300,404. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its coverage and boosted WDC’s price target to $405 with an Overweight rating, reinforcing institutional buy-side momentum and supporting the rally. Barclays raises price target to $405
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan (and Morgan Stanley commentary) flagged WDC as a top memory/storage idea and JPMorgan raised its price target to $400, adding credibility to the upside case and likely driving buy-side flows. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley Bullish on Western Digital (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage has broadly shifted positive — Evercore and other shops have published bullish notes and the street consensus sits around a “moderate buy,” helping sustain momentum into new highs. Analyst consensus and Evercore note
• Positive Sentiment: Sector bullishness from continued AI-driven memory demand (Micron coverage and broader commentary) is lifting peers like WDC as investors price in stronger near‑term storage demand and higher margins. Stock Market Today, April 22: Micron Technology Surges on Continued Memory Boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital published its FY2025 Annual Sustainability Report emphasizing efficiency and sustainability for AI-scale storage — a message that can help institutional ESG positioning but has limited immediate revenue impact. WD Raises the Bar on Sustainable Infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Management will be participating in several investor conferences (Barclays, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America) in May–June, which provides additional chances for guidance clarity and analyst engagement — important but informational. WD to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: Memory-focused ETF flows (first dedicated memory ETF reaching ~$1B AUM) show strong demand for the group, which benefits WDC as a large-cap exposure to the theme but may amplify volatility. Memory ETF hits $1B AUM
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks and other commentators note WDC’s rapid run (to a 52-week high) leaves valuation stretched and raises the risk of a pullback if AI demand growth or margin assumptions disappoint. That makes timing entry points and position sizing more important. Is Western Digital Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold After Hitting a 52-Week High?
• Negative Sentiment: Comparative analysis (SanDisk vs Western Digital) highlights NAND-focused peers with different end-market exposure; investors worried about longer-term NAND vs HDD secular trends may prefer competitors, which could cap WDC’s multiple over time. SanDisk vs. Western Digital: Which Memory Storage Stock Is the Better Buy?

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Argus set a $300.00 price target on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore raised their price target on Western Digital from $378.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $310.79.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $389.10 on Thursday. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $37.47 and a twelve month high of $402.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $299.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.92. The firm has a market cap of $131.92 billion, a PE ratio of 39.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The business had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.77 EPS. The business's revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.02%.

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.

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