Erste Asset Management GmbH Grows Stock Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 4,841.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 42,747 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,882 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $7,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 7.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,698,000 after buying an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 229.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 55.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $526.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $427.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $298.34. The firm has a market cap of $181.62 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46 and a beta of 2.13. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $54.60 and a 1-year high of $602.54.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company’s revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. 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 Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.58%.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho reportedly raised targets on Western Digital and peers, citing an AI-driven memory supply crunch that could extend through 2027, a bullish setup for pricing power and earnings. Memory Stocks Sandisk (SNDK), Seagate (STX), and Western Digital (WDC) Surge on AI-Driven Demand Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo recently increased its price target on WDC, reinforcing the bullish analyst backdrop that has helped support the stock’s rally. Wells Fargo Raises Western Digital (WDC) Price Target by $75
• Positive Sentiment: Memory and storage names, including Western Digital, are rebounding sharply after Friday’s selloff, suggesting momentum traders are pushing the stock higher even without a fresh company-specific announcement. Micron Rockets 8%, Western Digital Surges 7%, SanDisk Pops 6% in Memory-Stock Snap-Back
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles question whether the stock is still a buy after a massive run-up, which reflects investor debate more than a clear fundamental shift. Up 981%, Is Western Digital Stock Still a Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Social-media and market chatter also highlight strong performance, debt-management via convertible note exchanges, and broad semiconductor-sector strength, but these are more supportive context than direct catalysts. Western Digital Stock (WDC) Opinions on Strong Performance and Note Exchanges

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $488.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $433.29.

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.