Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Free Report) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 107,683 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 6,459 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $18,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake 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 valued at $6,281,000 after purchasing an additional 5,731 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA purchased a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at approximately $641,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth $34,244,000. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 399.8% during the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,900,000 after acquiring an additional 25,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 75.4% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 4,068 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
WDC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $488.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Argus set a $300.00 target price on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.83.
Western Digital Stock Performance
Western Digital stock opened at $455.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $157.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.21 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.00 and a fifty-two week high of $525.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $360.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $262.26.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is an increase 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 payout ratio is currently 2.99%.
Insider Transactions at Western Digital
In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total transaction of $2,501,349.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,643,630.14. The trade was a 7.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,679 shares of company stock valued at $18,049,314. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Key Western Digital News
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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