PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd Takes $493,000 Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd disclosed a new position in Western Digital, buying 2,861 shares valued at about $493,000 in the fourth quarter.
• Western Digital has been getting a boost from AI-driven demand for memory and storage, with commentary pointing to strong HDD/SSD pricing and improving margins. The company’s Q3 gross margin rose to 50.5%, and Q4 guidance calls for 51%–52%.
• The company also reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it raised its dividend to $0.15 per share from $0.13. Analysts remain constructive overall, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a price target of $413.50.

PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,861 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $493,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth boosted its position 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 207.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% during the 3rd 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 position in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from broad strength across memory and storage stocks, with investors betting that AI infrastructure demand will keep pricing and demand elevated for HDDs and SSDs. Not Just Micron: Memory Melt-Up Pulls SanDisk Up 8%, Western Digital Up 10%
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage points to continued gross margin improvement, with Q3 gross margin jumping to 50.5% and Q4 guidance calling for 51%-52%, helped by higher-capacity drives, better pricing, and cost controls. Can Western Digital Deliver Continued Gross Margin Improvement?
• Positive Sentiment: The company appointed former Nvidia executive Manuvir Das to its board, reinforcing the view that Western Digital is positioning itself more directly around AI and data-center growth opportunities. WD Appoints Manuvir Das to Board of Directors
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary also highlighted Western Digital as underappreciated relative to peers, with hard disk drives still seen as critical to AI storage infrastructure. Western Digital Is Making the Right Moves Amid Fierce Momentum for Memory Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: One analyst piece argued Western Digital stacks up poorly versus peers like Micron, which could temper enthusiasm even as the broader sector remains strong. Western Digital Stacks Up Poorly To Peers Like Micron, Don't Buy Here
• Neutral Sentiment: An insider sale by Cynthia Tregillis was disclosed, but it was small and made under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, so it does not appear to be a major warning sign. SEC filing

Western Digital Trading Up 0.0%

WDC stock opened at $531.21 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $51.17 and a one year high of $553.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.10 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71 and a beta of 2.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $396.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $281.03.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 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 company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 2.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Argus set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $413.50.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 214 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $539.63, for a total value of $115,480.82. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 117,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at $63,221,431.91. This represents a 0.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,905,270.79. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 54,405 shares of company stock valued at $18,575,428 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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