76,100 Shares in Western Digital Corporation $WDC Purchased by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 76,100 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,110,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 52,317 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $6,281,000 after acquiring an additional 5,731 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth $641,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth $34,244,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 75.4% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 4,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. grew 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $442.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.41, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $43.60 and a twelve month high of $453.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $314.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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 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 quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.68 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.99%.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: High-profile bullishness: Jim Cramer flagged AI memory/storage names including Western Digital as having more upside, drawing retail and momentum buying into the group. Jim Cramer Says ‘Overheated’ Storage Stocks Still Have Room To Run: SanDisk, Seagate, Western Digital Will ‘Gallop’ Higher
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price-target lifts: Robert W. Baird raised its price target to $450 with an Outperform rating — a formal broker upgrade that supports further buying. Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $450.00 at Robert W. Baird
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings beat & follow‑on analyst lifts: Coverage noted WDC’s fiscal Q3 beat (reported $2.72 EPS) and subsequent analyst target increases (some as high as ~$660), which underpins the rally and investor expectations for continued AI-driven revenue and margin expansion. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Surges as Analysts Set $660 Price Target Following Q3 Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming catalyst: Analysts and media are flagging June 5 as a key date tied to dividend-hike expectations and continued AI demand momentum, giving investors a near-term event to watch. Dear Western Digital Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for June 5
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader coverage/visibility: Several outlets (Seeking Alpha, Zacks, TipRanks, Yahoo) are re-evaluating WDC after the beat, increasing visibility — helpful for liquidity but not a direct fundamental change. Undercovered Dozen: Western Digital, SAP, Toast, And More
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry context: Coverage comparing WDC and Seagate highlights the HDD duopoly and the firms’ exposure to AI storage demand; useful for longer-term positioning but mixed on which stock is the better buy. Seagate and Western Digital Are a Hard Disk Drive Duopoly. Barchart Ranks the Storage Stocks Here.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary roundup: Several outlets summarize sell‑side forecasts and price-target dispersion — positive on average but with a range, so monitor further revisions and guidance execution. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Forecast — What Financial Analysts Expect after Q3 Earnings

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $9,616,638.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 363 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.09, for a total value of $136,883.67. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 120,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,259,473.07. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 72,711 shares of company stock worth $19,191,604 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WDC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $335.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $405.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research lowered Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, New Street Research set a $250.00 price objective on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.83.

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.