Swedbank AB Trims Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its Western Digital stake by 12.8% in the first quarter, selling 28,783 shares and ending with 195,532 shares valued at about $52.9 million.
• Western Digital beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting $2.72 EPS versus $2.39 expected and revenue of $3.34 billion, up 45.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.52, though one recent note downgraded the stock to equal weight.

Swedbank AB cut its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 12.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 195,532 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 28,783 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.06% of Western Digital worth $52,889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 399.8% during the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $3,900,000 after buying an additional 25,987 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 75.4% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 4,068 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,270,000. WESPAC Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $793,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $193,303,000 after purchasing an additional 282,156 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WDC shares. Barclays upped their price target on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Fox Advisors downgraded shares of Western Digital from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $493.52.

Western Digital Trading Down 7.9%

Western Digital stock opened at $532.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.40 billion, a PE ratio of 31.77 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $63.67 and a 12-month high of $799.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $545.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $365.92.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter 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, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total transaction of $235,699.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 116,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550 over the last ninety days. Company 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: Analysts remain broadly constructive on Western Digital, with recent reports highlighting a “Moderate Buy” consensus and price targets as high as $900, suggesting Wall Street still sees meaningful upside if demand stays firm. Western Digital (WDC) Gets a Hold from Goldman Sachs
• Positive Sentiment: A recent market note argued that the pullback in memory stocks may be a reset rather than a breakdown, pointing to continued tight supply, strong margins, and ongoing AI infrastructure demand that could support Western Digital’s storage business. Flash Crash or Cash? The AI Hardware Reset Investors Can’t Ignore (WDC)
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital has also remained a high-interest stock among retail and institutional investors, with multiple articles noting strong trading activity and continued attention on the company’s role in the AI memory cycle. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Western Digital Corporation (WDC) is a Trending Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Samsung’s record quarter sparked a broad selloff in memory and storage names, and WDC was caught in the downdraft as investors shifted from optimism to profit-taking across the sector. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Plunges 9% Following Samsung Report Sparking Memory Chip Selloff
• Negative Sentiment: Several market updates described WDC as falling alongside Micron and SanDisk in premarket trading, reinforcing concerns that the AI-memory trade is facing a short-term momentum reset. Micron, SanDisk, and Western Digital Sink 7% as Samsung Earnings Spark a Memory Selloff

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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