Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Free Report) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 51,887 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,153 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $8,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avion Wealth lifted its position in Western Digital by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. BOKF NA lifted its position in Western Digital by 6,700.0% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Activity
In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares in the company, valued at $39,905,270.79. The trade was a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Western Digital Stock Performance
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.99%.
Trending Headlines about Western Digital
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from strong investor enthusiasm around AI-driven storage demand, with recent articles highlighting new AI-focused storage technologies, improved analyst valuation estimates, and expectations for firmer HDD and memory pricing. Why Western Digital (WDC) Is Up 12.0% After Unveiling New AI‑Focused Storage Technologies
- Positive Sentiment: Citigroup reportedly raised its price target on Western Digital by 37%, helping push the stock to fresh highs as investors positioned ahead of the company’s Computex-related AI announcements. Western Digital (WDC) Hits All-Time High as Citi Hikes PT by 37%
- Positive Sentiment: The company has also been cleaning up its balance sheet and making more AI-related moves, which some investors view as supporting additional upside. Western Digital Could Be Halfway Through Retiring 2028 Convertible Debt. What It Means for the Stock.
- Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital’s recent earnings were strong, with the company beating estimates and issuing upbeat guidance, but the stock still saw a short-term dip as some traders appeared to take profits after a big run. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Dips 3% Despite Strong Earnings—Should Investors Buy the Pullback?
- Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also notes that the broader market and semiconductor stocks have been choppy, with Broadcom’s cautious AI outlook pressuring memory names like Western Digital even after the company’s strong news flow. MU, SNDK, WDC: Memory Stocks Dip As Broadcom’s Forecast Dampens AI Sentiment, Retail Turns Buyer
- Negative Sentiment: One near-term headwind is profit-taking after Western Digital’s rapid run-up to all-time highs, which has led to some price weakness despite the longer-term bullish narrative. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Dips While Market Gains: Key Facts
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts have commented on WDC shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $424.33.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Western Digital
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.
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