WDCC

BG Investment Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 13,187 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,993,000.

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Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,602,927,000. ABS Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,226,342,000. Anther Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $901,601,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth $885,565,000. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth $627,606,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total value of $825,466.65. Following the transaction, the insider owned 80,571 shares in the company, valued at $37,052,185.77. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,436 shares of company stock valued at $11,340,064. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal Q1 2027 adjusted EPS of $4.64, above the roughly $4.09–$4.11 consensus, while revenue rose 55.5% year over year to $4.38 billion. Growth was driven by strong cloud and data-center demand, higher-capacity drives and improved pricing. Western Digital Q1 earnings and revenues beat estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued substantially stronger-than-expected fiscal Q2 guidance, calling for revenue of approximately $5.0 billion to $5.2 billion and adjusted EPS of $5.60 to $6.00, versus consensus estimates near $4.5 billion and $4.72, respectively. Western Digital forecasts strong second-quarter growth
• Positive Sentiment: AI-related storage demand remains durable, with management citing growing requirements from inference, robotics and long-term data retention. Analysts and industry commentators expect HDDs to remain an important, cost-effective storage layer for data centers, potentially supporting demand visibility into 2030–2031. Western Digital CEO discusses durable AI storage demand
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital generated about $1.38 billion in free cash flow and increased its quarterly dividend 16.7% to $0.175 per share. JPMorgan also raised its price target to $650 and maintained an overweight rating. Western Digital Q1 revenue and dividend update
• Neutral Sentiment: Other analysts remained bullish but reduced some price targets, reflecting elevated expectations and uncertainty around the pace of future growth. TD Cowen, for example, lowered its target to $430 while retaining a buy rating; Rosenblatt and Cantor Fitzgerald also cut targets but remained positive.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock’s strong results were not enough to overcome a broad sell-off in AI, memory and technology shares. Investors are questioning whether hyperscaler capital spending can remain elevated and whether Western Digital’s unusually strong HDD pricing and margins are sustainable.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher planned capital expenditures, possible industry supply increases, inventory concerns and execution risks surrounding the HAMR technology transition are weighing on sentiment. Management also acknowledged that HDD price growth could eventually moderate. Western Digital faces capex and supply concerns
• Negative Sentiment: A disclosed insider sale of 807 shares worth approximately $306,660 added a modest sentiment overhang, although it was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and represented only a small portion of the insider’s holdings. SEC insider transaction filing

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC stock opened at $343.67 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $121.85 and a 1 year high of $799.87. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $432.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $479.51. The firm has a market cap of $128.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.34, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 2.11.

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Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.53. Western Digital had a return on equity of 56.91% and a net margin of 69.20%. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Western Digital's quarterly revenue was up 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.1750 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 2.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Western Digital from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $540.00 to $430.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $740.00 to $660.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Summit Insights downgraded shares of Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $591.04.

View Our Latest Report on Western Digital

Western Digital Profile

(Free Report)

Western Digital Corporation NASDAQ: WDC is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.

Further Reading

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This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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