Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV reduced its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 59.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 241,827 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 355,182 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $65,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Western Digital by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $456,884,000 after acquiring an additional 384,103 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $512,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,809,409 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $483,977,000 after acquiring an additional 159,167 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total transaction of $235,699.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% 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 28,959 shares of company stock valued at $12,631,666 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $487.42 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $560.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $388.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.10 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $66.04 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its 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. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. The company’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, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WDC shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.32.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from a rebound in memory stocks as investors step back in after last week’s selloff, improving sentiment across the semiconductor group. Micron Jumps 5%, SanDisk Rises 6%, Western Digital Climbs 4% as Memory Stocks Rebound With Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s view that the memory-stock selloff created a strong entry point is encouraging dip-buying in Western Digital and other chip names. The Memory Stock Sell-Off Created a ‘Strong Entry Point,’ Says Morgan Stanley. Investors Are Buying In.
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital Malaysia was recognized for advancing sustainable AI infrastructure, which supports the company’s AI narrative but is unlikely to be the main stock-moving catalyst today. WD Malaysia Recognized for Advancing Sustainable AI Infrastructure

Western Digital Company 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.