University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. Makes New Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management opened a new position in Western Digital, buying 1,490 shares worth about $257,000 in the fourth quarter.
• Western Digital is drawing strong institutional interest and bullish analyst coverage, with major firms like Vanguard and Norges Bank holding large stakes and Morgan Stanley raising its target to $650 on AI-driven storage demand.
• The company recently beat earnings estimates and raised its dividend, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $450.46.

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,490 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Western Digital by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,196,484,000 after acquiring an additional 243,177 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $456,884,000 after acquiring an additional 384,103 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Western Digital by 11.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,804,907 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $456,737,000 after acquiring an additional 402,981 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 4,923.9% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $409,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,339,225 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight view and lifted its price target to $650, reinforcing the bullish case that AI data-center buildouts are boosting hard-drive demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are re-rating WDC as an AI storage winner, helped by reports of strong enterprise storage demand, sold-out HDD inventory, and broader enthusiasm for memory and storage stocks across the sector. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlights a strong quarterly report, with revenue up sharply year over year and management pointing to continued AI-driven demand, which supports the case for higher earnings and pricing power. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The upcoming June 22 SanDisk exchange/swap is seen as a near-term catalyst that could keep trading interest elevated. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary warns the stock may be due for a pullback after a very large run-up, suggesting volatility could remain high even if the longer-term AI thesis stays intact. Article Title

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 85,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at $63,640,420.80. This represents 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 4.2%

Shares of WDC opened at $681.08 on Wednesday. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $57.88 and a 12-month high of $729.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $462.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $316.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.66 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital'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 predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 3.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $450.46.

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.

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.