Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd reduced its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Free Report) by 47.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 99,431 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 88,191 shares during the period. Western Digital makes up approximately 1.7% of Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $17,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,244,000. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 399.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,900,000 after purchasing an additional 25,987 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 75.4% in the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 4,068 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,270,000. Finally, WESPAC Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $793,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.
Western Digital News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its outlook on Western Digital and boosted its price target, adding to the bullish case that AI data-center growth is driving stronger-than-expected storage demand. Western Digital Stock Just Hit a New All-Time High. Here’s Why.
- Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say WDC is benefiting from a broader re-rating of AI storage stocks, with investors focused on tight hard-disk supply, sold-out inventory, and higher pricing power. Western Digital stock jumps as AI trade reignites
- Positive Sentiment: Media coverage highlighted a hyperscaler multiyear commitment to Western Digital, reinforcing confidence that demand from large cloud customers remains robust. Hyperscaler’s Multiyear Commitment with Western Digital (WDC) Highlights Robust Demand
- Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also watching June 22 for the planned SanDisk-related swap, which could create another event-driven trading catalyst for WDC. Dear Western Digital Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for June 22
- Negative Sentiment: One commentary piece argued the stock may be due for a near-term pullback after its huge run-up this year, suggesting valuation and momentum risks could cap gains in the short term. Western Digital stock looks ripe for a near-term pullback: find out more
Insider Activity at Western Digital
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Western Digital to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays upped their price target on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $450.46.
Get Our Latest Report on Western Digital
Western Digital Stock Performance
Shares of WDC opened at $681.08 on Wednesday. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $57.88 and a one year high of $729.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $462.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $316.21. The company has a market capitalization of $234.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.66 and a beta of 2.13.
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 company 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%.Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.58%.
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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