Simplicity Wealth LLC Takes Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,623 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $439,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. boosted its position in Western Digital by 399.8% during the 3rd 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 during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 4,068 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,270,000. WESPAC Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $793,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $193,303,000 after purchasing an additional 282,156 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Negative Sentiment: WDC slid in sympathy with the memory-chip sector after SK Hynix’s steep decline reignited concerns about valuations and near-term earnings in AI-related memory stocks. Western Digital Stock Drops: Why an Aggressive SK Hynix Reversal Is Shaking Up the Chip Sector
• Negative Sentiment: The broader group also weakened after reports that SK Hynix’s weak profit forecast and post-IPO reversal triggered selling across chip and storage names, including Western Digital. Micron, SanDisk, Western Digital Fall 6% as SK Hynix’s Weak Outlook Rattles Memory Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Another report said WDC was down in pre-market trading as investors dumped memory-chip stocks amid sector-wide weakness and rising geopolitical tension. Why Is Western Digital Stock (WDC) Falling in Pre-Market Today, 7/13/26?
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary also noted that global chip stocks were under pressure as investors reconsidered the sustainability of aggressive AI spending and related valuations. Intel, AMD, Sandisk, and More Stocks That Explain Today’s Market
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital also announced it will report fourth-quarter and fiscal 2026 results on August 5, which keeps investor attention focused on upcoming earnings but does not by itself change the near-term trading setup. WD to Announce Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results on August 5, 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Despite the selloff, some analysts remain constructive, citing strong demand and tight HDD supply as reasons Western Digital could still have upside if fundamentals hold. Why Analysts Are Betting Western Digital Stock Can Gain Another 30% from Here

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.32.

Western Digital Trading Down 4.6%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $555.55 on Tuesday. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $65.24 and a twelve month high of $799.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $558.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $376.88. The company has a market capitalization of $191.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.17 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.58%.

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.