Meeder Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 14,090 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,999,000.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 71.4% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 230,578 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $147,275,000 after acquiring an additional 96,078 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,270,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $193,303,000 after purchasing an additional 282,156 shares in the last quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at $20,889,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors raised its position in Western Digital by 145.8% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 5,950 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 3,529 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.
Western Digital Stock Down 7.4%
Shares of WDC opened at $496.16 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $556.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $430.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49 and a beta of 2.14. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $73.14 and a 12-month high of $799.87.
Western Digital Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 2.48%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital
In other Western Digital news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total value of $427,941.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 114,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,663,290.57. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,093 shares of company stock valued at $11,650,737. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on WDC
Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital continues to benefit from improving earnings expectations, stronger storage pricing, and AI-driven cloud demand. Recent coverage characterized the company as a momentum candidate, while its latest results exceeded analyst estimates and management provided a strong fiscal 2027 outlook. Why Western Digital Is a Great Momentum Choice
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators remain constructive on the broader memory and storage cycle, citing supply constraints, rising demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure, and potential for continued earnings growth. Jim Cramer on Memory and Storage Stocks
- Neutral Sentiment: The stock’s recent rally was supported by bullish commentary about a potential memory bottleneck and by optimism surrounding the company’s margins and forecast-beating outlook. Those gains have left WDC and its peers more sensitive to profit-taking and changes in investor sentiment. Western Digital Stock Jumps as Memory Rally Accelerates
- Negative Sentiment: Rising Treasury yields are pressuring richly valued AI and semiconductor-related shares, encouraging investors to rotate away from the extended memory trade. Western Digital is declining alongside Micron and SanDisk despite the absence of a company-specific negative announcement. Higher Rates Test the Memory Boom
- Negative Sentiment: A Wall Street Journal report concerning previously undisclosed AI spending commitments appears to have intensified concerns about AI-related valuations and corporate spending, weighing on the entire memory and storage group. WSJ Report Sends Memory Stocks Down
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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