Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Purchased by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,743 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,296 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Western Digital were worth $16,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,196,484,000 after purchasing an additional 243,177 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $791,317,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% in the 3rd 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 lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 11.8% in the 3rd 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 lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% in the 3rd 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 owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 363 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.09, for a total value of $136,883.67. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 120,023 shares in the company, valued at $45,259,473.07. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was 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 owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 60,459 shares of company stock worth $19,883,236 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat and upbeat guidance — WDC reported an EPS beat and raised its FYQ4 EPS range, with accelerating revenue and margins driven by AI/data‑center HDD demand, which is a core reason investors are bidding the stock up. Western Digital Stock Surges After Q3 Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price-target lifts — Multiple firms (including TD Cowen and Wells Fargo) raised price targets into the ~$500 area and reiterated buy/overweight views, reinforcing momentum and giving investors fresh upside conviction. AI Boom Drives Western Digital Toward $500 Target
• Positive Sentiment: Sector tailwind from SanDisk's breakout — SanDisk’s dramatic post‑spinoff rally and strength in memory suppliers supports a bullish narrative for WDC as customers scale AI/datacenter capacity. SanDisk Outpaces Former Parent
• Positive Sentiment: Risk‑on market backdrop and media endorsements — Falling VIX and bullish TV/press coverage (including Jim Cramer highlighting storage stocks) have helped rotate capital into tech and storage names like WDC. Jim Cramer on Storage Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Equity‑for‑equity exchange announced — WD entered agreements to exchange Sandisk and WDC shares (settlement expected May 7). This is a capital‑structure/holder rearrangement that is informational but not clearly dilutive or immediately value‑creating. WD Announces Equity-for-Equity Exchange
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor outreach — WDC presented at Barclays’ conference and has widespread coverage; useful for transparency and flows but not an immediate catalyst. Barclays Conference Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling / executive stock sales — CEO Irving Tan (20,000 shares under a 10b5‑1 plan) and other executives sold shares recently; while some sales were pre‑arranged, investors often view sizable insider selling near highs as a modest negative signal. Irving Tan SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Additional insider reductions — Other insiders (including the COO) sold smaller stakes this week, which may keep some traders cautious about near‑term profit‑taking risk. Executives Unload $10M+

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $483.15 on Thursday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $321.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.79. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $43.60 and a 12 month high of $483.87. The company has a market capitalization of $166.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.84, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.10.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The business'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. On average, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 2.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $488.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $395.83.

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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