Praxis Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Praxis Investment Management boosted its stake in Western Digital by 92.5% in Q4 to 10,066 shares (about $1.73M), amid broad institutional accumulation that leaves institutions and hedge funds owning roughly 92.51% of the stock.
• Western Digital posted a Q3 EPS beat ($2.72 vs. $2.39) and raised Q4 guidance (EPS 3.100–3.400), spurring multiple analyst price-target upgrades and driving the stock toward its 12‑month high on strong AI/storage demand.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend 20% to $0.15 (annualized $0.60), but insiders have sold about 60,459 shares (~$19.9M) in the past 90 days, a modest counterpoint to the bullish momentum.

Praxis Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 92.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,066 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 4,836 shares during the period. Praxis Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at $791,317,000. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% during 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 buying an additional 3,339,225 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% during 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 buying an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at $221,800,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 175.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,071 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $78,347,000 after buying an additional 784,645 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $483.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.10. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $321.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $239.79. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $43.60 and a twelve month high of $483.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $335.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $405.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, New Street Research set a $250.00 price objective on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $395.83.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat and stronger guidance — Western Digital reported a meaningful EPS beat and set higher FY‑Q4 EPS guidance, reinforcing the AI/storage demand story and explaining upward momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts lifting targets — Multiple firms have raised price targets (some toward the $500 area), supporting buy-side conviction and fresh buy ratings. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Rank #1 inclusion — Zacks added WDC to its Strong Buy list, which can boost inflows from model‑driven investors and screens. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase and valuation narrative — A 20% dividend hike and improved margins tied to AI storage have drawn both income and growth buyers. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Sector tailwind / positive media commentary — High‑profile bullish mentions (e.g., Jim Cramer praising storage names) and SanDisk’s breakout lift sentiment across storage peers. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Equity-for-equity exchange announced — WD disclosed exchange agreements involving Sandisk and WD shares; details are largely administrative but worth monitoring for share‑count or ownership effects. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor outreach and coverage — WDC presented at Barclays and has multiple feature pieces and screen appearances; helpful for visibility but not an immediate catalyst. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Retail promotions / product pricing noise — A steep discount on a WD_Black consumer SSD is notable for retail demand but has limited bearing on enterprise/HDD AI demand driving the rally. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares under a 10b5‑1 plan; while routine, large insider sales can be interpreted negatively by some investors. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional insider reductions — Other executives (including Vidyadhara Gubbi) reported small sales this week; cumulative executive sales are a modest offset to the bullish fundamentals. Read More.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total value of $2,743,105.88. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 107,794 shares in the company, valued at $29,137,796.14. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,630.14. This represents a 7.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 60,459 shares of company stock worth $19,883,236 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.