Swiss National Bank Purchases 52,500 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank increased its Western Digital stake by 5.5% in Q1, buying 52,500 more shares and bringing its total holding to 1,003,307 shares worth about $271.4 million.
• Several analysts remain upbeat on Western Digital, with recent target hikes from firms including Morgan Stanley, Barclays, and Rosenblatt; the stock’s consensus rating is Moderate Buy with an average target price of $520.32.
• Western Digital’s latest earnings beat expectations, reporting EPS of $2.72 on revenue of $3.34 billion, while the company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share from $0.12.

Swiss National Bank raised its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,003,307 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 52,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.29% of Western Digital worth $271,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 9.2% during the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 33.3% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 132 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,707 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $811,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its position in Western Digital by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 3,782 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadcap Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: New coverage says Western Digital is well positioned to benefit from global AI infrastructure growth, with rising demand for advanced memory and storage supporting a stronger long-term revenue outlook. 4 Top-Ranked Memory Stocks to Buy as AI Infrastructure Expands Globally
• Positive Sentiment: Another report highlighted Western Digital as one of two smaller AI storage names that could benefit from expanding data center demand, citing improving margins and earnings growth potential. Everyone's Buying NVIDIA, but 2 Smaller AI Stocks Could Soar Higher
• Positive Sentiment: A separate Zacks piece argues AI data growth is accelerating HDD demand and that Western Digital’s focused strategy could help it capture hyperscale storage opportunities. AI Data Growth is Exploding: Can Western Digital Keep Up?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several market wrap-ups noted high volatility in tech and momentum stocks, which is adding noise to trading in Western Digital and other memory names. The Tech Shakeout: Market Extremes & Gavin Baker's Bold Call
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street commentary also flagged Western Digital as part of a broader AI-memory trade, with analysts still generally constructive but market sentiment swinging sharply day to day. Which Storage Stock Is Best Positioned to Win the AI Memory War?
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports said Western Digital fell alongside SanDisk and Micron as investors took profits in semiconductor and memory stocks, reflecting sector-wide rotation rather than company-specific trouble. Nasdaq Slips as Chip Stocks Come Under Pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital also faced a post-rally pullback as traders reassessed how durable the AI-driven storage boom will be ahead of the company’s next earnings report and guidance. Why Western Digital (WDC) Stock Is Down Today

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $520.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $477.22 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $560.89 and a 200-day moving average of $384.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.49 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $66.04 and a 52 week high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released 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. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

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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