Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 131,247 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management boosted its stake in Western Digital by 62.1% in Q4, buying 131,247 shares to own 342,516 shares (about 0.10% of the company) worth ~$59.04 million.
• Several analysts sharply raised price targets (e.g., Cantor Fitzgerald $500, Bank of America $495) citing HDD supply tightness, AI-driven NAND demand, improving pricing and buybacks, though options imply ~11.6% post‑earnings volatility and some warn high targets may already price in best-case results.
• Western Digital recently beat Q3 estimates (EPS $2.13 vs. $1.93; revenue $3.02B, +25.2% YoY), while insiders sold about 92,711 shares (~$24.3M) over the last quarter.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 62.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 342,516 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 131,247 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.10% of Western Digital worth $59,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in Western Digital by 163.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% in the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Westfuller Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Major analyst price‑target upgrades and bullish research are lifting sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald and Bank of America raised targets sharply (Cantor to $500, BofA to $495), and UBS also recently lifted its target — signaling Wall Street sees sizable upside tied to a structural HDD supply tightness and improving memory pricing. Cantor Fitzgerald Raises Western Digital Price Target to $500
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts emphasize strong AI-driven NAND demand, improving pricing and margin leverage, plus big buybacks — all factors that support expectations for an earnings beat and higher free cash flow. WDC's Q3 Earnings Likely to Beat Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: After‑hours strength is partially a sympathy rally with Seagate (STX) as the sector rallies on the same supply/pricing dynamics; that peer momentum is helping WDC shares recover late in the session. Western Digital Stock Is Soaring After The Close: Here's Why
• Neutral Sentiment: Retail pricing noise: a steep discount on a WD_Black 2TB Xbox expansion card highlights promotional activity in the consumer channel — not necessarily a company-level earnings driver but worth monitoring for ASP/volume signaling. WD_Black 2TB Xbox Storage Expansion Card Drops to $0.11 per GB
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market is pricing in a large post‑earnings move (~11.6%), increasing short‑term volatility risk around the April 30 Q3 print — this raises trading noise even if fundamentals remain constructive. Western Digital Is About to Report Q3 Earnings. Options Traders Expect an 11.63% Move
• Negative Sentiment: Some research notes caution that analyst expectations and elevated price targets may already price in the best outcomes; that raises downside risk if the company merely meets (not exceeds) the high forecasts. Why The Western Digital (WDC) Story Is Shifting As Analysts Reset Targets And Expectations

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $260.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $340.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Western Digital to $495.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $320.38.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total value of $5,108,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 623,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at $159,288,807.84. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $9,616,638.18. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 92,711 shares of company stock valued at $24,300,404 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.5%

WDC opened at $390.75 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day moving average is $309.01 and its 200-day moving average is $230.51. The company has a market cap of $132.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.19, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.77. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $40.58 and a 1-year high of $416.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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