Western Digital Corporation $WDC Stock Holdings Boosted by ProShare Advisors LLC

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors LLC sharply increased its Western Digital stake by 581.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 618,061 shares valued at about $106.5 million. Institutional investors now own 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.72 beating estimates and revenue of $3.34 billion topping forecasts. Revenue rose 45.5% year over year, and the company raised its Q4 2026 EPS guidance.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of $395.83. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share, while several insiders sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 581.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 618,061 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 527,359 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.18% of Western Digital worth $106,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WDC. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 12.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 52,317 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $6,281,000 after purchasing an additional 5,731 shares during the period. LBP AM SA acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter worth about $641,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter worth about $34,244,000. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 399.8% in the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $3,900,000 after purchasing an additional 25,987 shares during the period. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 75.4% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 4,068 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. New Street Research set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Truist Financial set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $488.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $395.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 363 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.09, for a total value of $136,883.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 120,023 shares in the company, valued at $45,259,473.07. This represents a 0.30% 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 have sold 53,679 shares of company stock worth $18,049,314. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $455.80 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $360.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $262.26. The company has a market cap of $157.11 billion, a PE ratio of 27.21 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.00 and a 1 year high of $525.15.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital announced industry-first post-quantum cryptography hard drives, reinforcing its pitch that it can win more AI data-center business by offering “quantum-safe” storage security for hyperscalers. WD Advances Next-Generation Trusted Infrastructure with Industry’s First Post-Quantum Cryptography Hard Drives to Help Secure the Future of AI Data
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted that AI infrastructure is driving a storage supercycle, with stronger pricing power for enterprise SSDs and hard drives; that backdrop is favorable for Western Digital’s revenue and margins. Seagate and Western Digital: AI Storage Demand Is Now Showing Up in Pricing Power
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary suggests Western Digital’s fair value is being revised higher on stronger earnings expectations tied to AI storage demand, and one note cited a price target around $504, supporting the stock’s long-term bull case. Why The Western Digital (WDC) Story Is Shifting On New Earnings And AI Storage Expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was added to the 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index North America, a small but constructive inclusion that can improve visibility with institutional investors. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) Included in 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index North America
• Neutral Sentiment: Shares were little changed in the session after a sharp sector-wide selloff, as memory stocks including Micron and SanDisk bounced while Western Digital lagged, suggesting WDC is being pulled around by broader group trading rather than company-specific news. Micron Is Up 6% Today: Is It Outperforming Other Memory Stocks Like SanDisk and Western Digital?
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term sentiment was pressured by reports of AI supply-chain and capacity-crunch fears across memory stocks, which sparked a premarket selloff in Western Digital and peers. Micron, Seagate, Western Digital Sink On Capacity Crunch Fears

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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