Vise Technologies Inc. Buys 2,568 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 42.8% in the fourth quarter, adding 2,568 shares to reach 8,575 shares valued at about $1.48 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high at 92.51%, and several other hedge funds and asset managers also boosted their Western Digital holdings during the period.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly bullish, with multiple firms raising price targets and the stock holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus target of $433.29, while Western Digital also reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and raised its dividend.

Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 42.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,575 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,568 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 86,613 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $14,921,000 after acquiring an additional 27,156 shares in the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,444 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Western Digital by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 140,547 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $24,212,000 after acquiring an additional 16,899 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 51,887 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $8,939,000 after acquiring an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,686 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on WDC. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Western Digital to $495.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $433.29.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company'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 value 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. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $526.93 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $427.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $298.34. The company has a market cap of $181.62 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46 and a beta of 2.13. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.60 and a twelve month high of $602.54.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 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 company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.58%.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho reportedly raised targets on Western Digital and peers, citing an AI-driven memory supply crunch that could extend through 2027, a bullish setup for pricing power and earnings. Memory Stocks Sandisk (SNDK), Seagate (STX), and Western Digital (WDC) Surge on AI-Driven Demand Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo recently increased its price target on WDC, reinforcing the bullish analyst backdrop that has helped support the stock’s rally. Wells Fargo Raises Western Digital (WDC) Price Target by $75
• Positive Sentiment: Memory and storage names, including Western Digital, are rebounding sharply after Friday’s selloff, suggesting momentum traders are pushing the stock higher even without a fresh company-specific announcement. Micron Rockets 8%, Western Digital Surges 7%, SanDisk Pops 6% in Memory-Stock Snap-Back
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles question whether the stock is still a buy after a massive run-up, which reflects investor debate more than a clear fundamental shift. Up 981%, Is Western Digital Stock Still a Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Social-media and market chatter also highlight strong performance, debt-management via convertible note exchanges, and broad semiconductor-sector strength, but these are more supportive context than direct catalysts. Western Digital Stock (WDC) Opinions on Strong Performance and Note Exchanges

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.