Securian Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Securian Asset Management cut its Western Digital stake by 44.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 7,452 shares and ending with 9,296 shares worth about $1.6 million.
• Western Digital beat expectations in its latest quarter, reporting EPS of $2.72 on revenue of $3.34 billion, both above analyst estimates, and revenue rose 45.5% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.13 to $0.15 per share, while analysts remain broadly constructive with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $395.83.

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 44.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,296 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 7,452 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Western Digital by 7.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,698,000 after buying an additional 3,019 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 229.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 55.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $515.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $46.40 and a 1-year high of $525.15. The company's fifty day moving average is $334.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.47.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm's 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 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 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 issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 2.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 363 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.09, for a total transaction of $136,883.67. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 120,023 shares in the company, valued at $45,259,473.07. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 53,679 shares of company stock valued at $18,049,314. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported better-than-expected Q3 results, with EPS of $2.72 versus $2.39 expected and revenue of $3.34 billion versus $3.25 billion estimated, while also boosting its dividend by 20%. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Soars to Record Peak on Stellar Q3 Results and Dividend Boost
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports said WDC is benefiting from surging AI infrastructure spending, which is increasing demand for high-capacity data center storage and memory chips. Western Digital rallies 7% amid AI surge in Micron and Sandisk
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary highlighted Western Digital as a potential winner from continued hyperscaler AI spending, reinforcing the bullish memory-storage trade. Why These 3 High-Flying Memory & Storage Stocks Will Rise Further
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed 0 shares reported as of May 11, which does not provide a meaningful signal for investors.
• Neutral Sentiment: Related coverage also noted strong momentum in SanDisk and the broader memory ETF, adding to sector enthusiasm rather than changing WDC-specific fundamentals. SanDisk's 4,000% Moonshot Just Made Its Parent The Underdog

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. Susquehanna reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $405.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $395.83.

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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