Patton Fund Management Inc. Buys 26,998 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management increased its stake in Western Digital by 954.0% in Q4, buying 26,998 shares to hold 29,828 shares worth about $5.138 million.
• Multiple large investors (WCM, Fred Alger, Soroban, Polar, AQR) have also added significant positions, leaving institutional and hedge fund ownership at about 92.51%.
• Wall Street is broadly bullish—21 analysts rate WDC a Buy versus 3 Holds with an average target of $288.33 and top targets (e.g., Evercore) up to $378; the stock recently beat earnings and is trading near its 52‑week high around $350.

Patton Fund Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 954.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,828 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 26,998 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WDC. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth $791,317,000. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,339,225 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in 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 period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $221,800,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 175.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,071 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $78,347,000 after buying an additional 784,645 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $378.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. 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. Truist Financial set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $340.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus set a $300.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.33.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $350.16 on Tuesday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $285.91 and its 200-day moving average is $210.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $35.00 and a 52 week high of $351.87. The firm has a market cap of $118.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.77.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $9,616,638.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total transaction of $2,743,105.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 107,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,137,796.14. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 92,795 shares of company stock valued at $24,265,884 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Citi and other brokers raised price targets and kept Buy/Outperform ratings, citing stronger storage pricing and AI-driven demand for HDD/flash — a key driver behind today’s rally. Citi Raises Seagate and Western Digital Targets
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI and other analysts have recently lifted WDC targets (Evercore to $378), reinforcing investor expectations that WD will benefit from a structural shift back to high-capacity HDDs and greater memory demand for AI workloads. A Massive Storage Shift Is Underway — And Western Digital May Be At The Center
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary and comparison pieces (e.g., Zacks) show Western Digital edging Seagate on recent metrics and investor returns, reinforcing sector rotation into WD. Seagate vs. Western Digital: Which HDD Leader Should Investors Pick?
• Positive Sentiment: New thematic products (a DRAM/AI-focused ETF) and broader “picks-and-shovels” AI flows are putting memory and storage names like WDC in focus, providing thematic fund demand tailwinds. This New ETF Aims to Capitalize on Surging AI Memory Chip Demand
• Positive Sentiment: SanDisk’s strong performance (SanDisk is part of WD’s portfolio) is attracting index and investor attention—reports note SanDisk helped push a name into the Nasdaq‑100, highlighting demand for flash/storage exposure. Sandisk Bumps Atlassian Off the Nasdaq 100
• Neutral Sentiment: WD scheduled its Q3 FY2026 results release and conference call for April 30 — an upcoming catalyst that could reinforce or reverse today’s move depending on guidance and margins. WD to Announce Third-Quarter Fiscal Year-2026 Financial Results on April 30, 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: A consumer promo: WD’s WD Blue SA510 SATA SSD was advertised at a discount — a retail price cut that is unlikely to move enterprise revenue but worth noting for potential short-term ASP pressure in consumer channels. Western Digital WD Blue SA510 SATA SSD drops to $299.99
• Negative Sentiment: Recent filings show insiders sold roughly US$16M of stock, which some investors interpret as a mild negative/confidence signal despite strong analyst enthusiasm. More Money In The Bank For Western Digital Insiders Who Divested US$16m

Western Digital 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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