Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by BNP Paribas

Key Points

• BNP Paribas cut its Western Digital stake by 22% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,487 shares and leaving it with 8,836 shares worth about $1.52 million.
• Western Digital posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.72 and revenue of $3.34 billion, both ahead of analyst estimates, while revenue rose 45.5% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share from $0.13, and recent analyst sentiment remains broadly positive with several firms lifting price targets and maintaining buy or outperform ratings.

BNP Paribas reduced its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 22.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,836 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 2,487 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas' holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WDC. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Avion Wealth lifted its position in Western Digital by 163.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 207.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. BOKF NA grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% in the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Trading Up 3.1%

WDC stock opened at $563.10 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $400.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $284.43. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $51.88 and a 52 week high of $571.18. The company has a market cap of $194.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.62 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.99%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 363 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.09, for a total transaction of $136,883.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 120,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,259,473.07. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,408 shares of company stock worth $14,707,666. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Susquehanna restated a "neutral" rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $424.33.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted Western Digital as a beneficiary of the AI storage supercycle, with demand for cloud computing, AI, IoT, and enterprise data storage expected to support continued growth. 3 Storage Devices Stocks to Buy as the Industry Gains Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital also drew attention for its Computex 2026 messaging that AI infrastructure is fundamentally a data system, reinforcing the company’s role in AI-driven storage demand. WD at Computex 2026: AI Doesn't Just Run on Compute - It Runs on Data
• Positive Sentiment: Investors also reacted to Evercore ISI raising its price target on Western Digital to $575 from $410 while keeping an Outperform rating, signaling higher Wall Street confidence. Here’s What Evercore Now Says About Western Digital Corp (WDC) Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentary pieces argued that the AI storage trade still has room to run, helping keep momentum in the stock and the broader memory/storage group. Western Digital: The AI Storage Trade Still Has Room To Run
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital presented at the Bank of America 2026 Global Technology Conference, which likely kept the company in focus but did not include a clear new catalyst in the headline. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) Presents at Bank of America 2026 Global Technology Conference Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: An insider sale by Vidyadhara K. Gubbi was disclosed, which can slightly temper enthusiasm even though the sale was small relative to the insider’s remaining stake. SEC filing for insider sale

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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