MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Free Report) by 111.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,016 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,376 shares during the quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $791,317,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $788,729,000. 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 valued at $409,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,339,225 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $221,800,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. New Street Research set a $250.00 target price on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Western Digital from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Western Digital from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $416.63.
Western Digital Trading Up 2.8%
Western Digital stock opened at $546.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $188.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.61 and a beta of 2.13. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $51.17 and a 12 month high of $564.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $400.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $284.43.
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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.99%.
Trending Headlines about Western Digital
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from a strong AI memory supercycle, with memory and storage shares extending a parabolic rally as investors bet on sustained demand for data-center storage. Micron Rises 7%, Western Digital Climbs and SanDisk Climb 4% as Memory Stocks Extend Parabolic Run
- Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target on Western Digital to $620 from $450 and kept an Overweight rating, citing strong memory and storage fundamentals. Barclays Raises its Price Target on Western Digital (WDC)
- Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI also lifted its target on Western Digital to $575 from $410 while reiterating an Outperform rating, adding to bullish Wall Street sentiment. Here’s What Evercore Now Says About Western Digital Corp (WDC) Stock
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital highlighted its role in AI infrastructure at Computex, framing storage as a core part of the AI data economy rather than just a secondary hardware category. WD at Computex 2026: AI Doesn’t Just Run on Compute – It Runs on Data
- Neutral Sentiment: Several articles noted heavy bullish momentum and strong valuation expansion in memory stocks, but also warned that the move has become highly extended and vulnerable to a sharp reversal if demand expectations cool. SanDisk Stock Near $1,700: Two Risks That Could Break the Momentum
- Neutral Sentiment: One filing-related article said Situational Awareness LP sold its stake in Western Digital, but the piece did not suggest a broader change in the company’s fundamentals. Western Digital Corporation (WDC): Leopold Aschenbrenner Is Selling This Stock
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total value of $2,743,105.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 107,794 shares in the company, valued at $29,137,796.14. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 54,405 shares of company stock valued at $18,575,428 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Western Digital 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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