Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 14,929 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 76.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,566 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,929 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $4,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 102.5% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 399 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 86.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, CNB Bank acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Nvidia’s CES keynote and broader storage-sector enthusiasm sparked a large rally in memory/storage names, boosting WDC to new highs as markets priced in stronger AI-driven storage demand. Western Digital (WDC) Stock: Memory Storage Names Explode After Nvidia CES Keynote
• Positive Sentiment: Inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 was cited as validation of Western Digital’s strategic shift toward AI/data-center storage, supporting institutional demand and credibility. Western Digital’s Nasdaq-100 Entry Caps Its AI-Driven Comeback
• Positive Sentiment: Macro/sector tailwinds: analysts and commentators point to an AI-driven RAM/DRAM shortage and heated memory-chip buying early in 2026, which should lift demand for WDC’s storage products. Memory Chip Stocks are Red-Hot. Is it Too Late to Buy?
• Positive Sentiment: Firm-level demand signs: investor letters and press coverage point to accelerated Q4 demand that helped WDC’s recent performance, reinforcing momentum into the next quarter. Accelerated Demand Lifted Western Digital Corp (WDC) in Q4
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect double-digit EPS growth for the coming quarter, a near-term fundamental catalyst ahead of earnings. Western Digital Earnings Preview: What to Expect
• Neutral Sentiment: Product refresh: SanDisk (WD’s consumer brand) rebranded/updated the Blue and Black SSD lines — positive for product-cycle freshness but not a major revenue inflection by itself. Sandisk Gives Its Western Digital Blue and Black Lineups a Makeover
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large call-option activity was recorded (speculative bullish positioning), which can increase short-term volatility but isn’t a guaranteed directional signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking and volatility risk after the rapid run-up: several articles flagged a 15–17% intraday surge earlier in the week, making a near-term pullback or rotation likely as traders lock gains. Western Digital (WDC) Surges 16.8%: Is This an Indication of Further Gains?

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total transaction of $277,956.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,524.46. This represents a 31.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total value of $3,013,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 645,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,265,422.23. This represents a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 26,369 shares of company stock valued at $4,013,785 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WDC. Loop Capital raised their target price on Western Digital to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Bank of America increased their price target on Western Digital from $170.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.65.

Western Digital Stock Down 6.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $187.68 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $221.23. The company has a market capitalization of $64.17 billion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $168.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 30.89% and a net margin of 21.37%.Western Digital has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.730-2.030 EPS. Analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th were paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 4th. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.28%.

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.