OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Raises Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• OMERS Administration increased its Western Digital stake by 25% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 27,242 shares valued at approximately $7.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of WDC.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $520.32; targets range as high as $900, supported by Western Digital’s exposure to AI-driven storage demand.
• Western Digital reported strong quarterly results, including EPS of $2.72 versus expectations of $2.39 and 45.5% year-over-year revenue growth. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share, though insiders sold roughly $12.6 million of stock during the last quarter.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 25.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,242 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,447 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Western Digital were worth $7,369,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $456,884,000 after acquiring an additional 384,103 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its position in Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $512,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,661 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,809,409 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $483,977,000 after acquiring an additional 159,167 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 28,959 shares of company stock worth $12,631,666 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WDC shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $520.32.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Memory-chip peers such as Micron, Sandisk, and SK Hynix were reported surging on continued enthusiasm for AI infrastructure spending and tight memory supply, which can lift sentiment for Western Digital as well. Article: Why Micron, Sandisk, and SK Hynix Are Surging—And How to Play It
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted Western Digital’s AI storage exposure and relatively stronger financial footing versus peers like Super Micro, reinforcing the stock’s appeal as an AI hardware play. Article: WDC vs. SMCI: Which AI Hardware Stock is the Smarter Investment Now?
• Positive Sentiment: A valuation piece argued that Western Digital still looks attractive on earnings and especially cheap on a cash-flow basis, suggesting the recent rally may have room to continue if AI demand remains strong. Article: Western Digital (WDC) Stock Looks Reasonable On Earnings While Cash Flow Looks Cheap
• Neutral Sentiment: One report said Western Digital reentered merger-focused discussion, but it did not provide a concrete transaction update, so the near-term stock impact is unclear. Article: Western Digital (WDC) Reenters Merger Focus, Where Does Fair Value Sit?
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position reported, which does not appear to be a major driver of the stock today.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $519.80 on Monday. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $66.51 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87. The stock's fifty day moving average is $564.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $398.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.03 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior 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, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 3.58%.

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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