Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Has $2.68 Million Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Richard Bernstein Advisors trimmed its stake in Western Digital by 14.5%, selling 2,628 shares and leaving it with 15,532 shares valued at about $2.676 million.
• Significant insider selling has occurred recently — CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares for roughly $8.24 million under a 10b5‑1 plan, and insiders have sold 60,459 shares (~$19.9 million) over the past 90 days, while insiders own only about 0.18% of the stock.
• Operational and analyst momentum: Western Digital posted a quarterly EPS beat ($2.72 vs. $2.39) with revenue up 45.5% and set Q4 guidance of $3.10–$3.40 EPS, prompting multiple price‑target upgrades and a 20% quarterly dividend increase to $0.15 amid a consensus "Moderate Buy" average target of $395.83.

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 15,532 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 2,628 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 551.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Westfuller Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its position in Western Digital by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total value of $2,743,105.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 107,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,137,796.14. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 60,459 shares of company stock valued at $19,883,236. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $405.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $395.83.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $483.15 on Thursday. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $43.60 and a 1 year high of $483.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.10. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $321.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.79.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. The company's revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, 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 given a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.99%.

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.

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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