Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Acquired by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• iA Global Asset Management boosted its Western Digital stake by 77.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 86,911 shares worth about $15 million. More broadly, institutional investors own 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital continues to benefit from strong AI-related storage demand, with recent headlines highlighting its inclusion in a key ESG index and commentary around surging earnings and hyperscaler demand. The stock has also drawn attention for strong recent performance and higher analyst price targets.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings estimates, reported 45.5% year-over-year revenue growth, and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.13 to $0.15 per share. Analysts remain mostly bullish, with several firms increasing price targets and the consensus rating at Moderate Buy.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 77.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 86,911 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 37,969 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Western Digital were worth $14,972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% during the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Avion Wealth increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 207.0% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was named to the 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index North America, highlighting its ESG and sustainable AI infrastructure leadership. The company also said the index inclusion and improved operating profile reflect its growing role in AI data storage demand. WD Named to 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best‑in‑Class Index North America, Recognizing Leadership in Sustainable AI Infrastructure
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to point to Western Digital’s AI storage exposure, with articles citing surging earnings, rising hyperscaler demand, and stronger shareholder returns after the SanDisk spinoff as reasons the stock has been trending higher. WDC's Whopping 893% Run in a Year: Buy the Stock Amid AI Storage Boom?
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a 20% dividend increase, which investors may view as a sign of confidence in cash flow and capital returns alongside record AI-related demand for its storage and data platforms. Western Digital Links Higher Dividend And ESG Index Win To AI Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital is also showing up on “trending stock” lists, suggesting elevated investor interest, but these mentions do not add new fundamental information by themselves. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Western Digital Corporation (WDC) is a Trending Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate note said Western Digital’s price target was raised, which can support sentiment but is still secondary to the bigger AI-storage and capital-return story. Western Digital (WDC) price target increased by 31.02% to 483.72
• Negative Sentiment: No major company-specific negative catalyst emerged in the latest headlines, though some coverage compares Western Digital with peers such as Micron and Seagate, which keeps valuation and competition in focus. Why I'd Rather Own Micron Stock Than Sandisk

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 90,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 53,679 shares of company stock valued at $18,049,314. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $482.20 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.00 and a 12-month high of $525.15. The stock has a market cap of $166.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.79 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $352.15 and a 200 day moving average of $256.77.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital's revenue 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital to $495.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $395.83.

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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