Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Lowers Stock Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lowered its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,864 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 3,597 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $12,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. BOKF NA grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% during the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 4.6%

Shares of WDC opened at $555.55 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $558.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $376.88. The company has a market cap of $191.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.17 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $65.24 and a twelve month high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 payout ratio is 3.58%.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Negative Sentiment: WDC slid in sympathy with the memory-chip sector after SK Hynix’s steep decline reignited concerns about valuations and near-term earnings in AI-related memory stocks. Western Digital Stock Drops: Why an Aggressive SK Hynix Reversal Is Shaking Up the Chip Sector
• Negative Sentiment: The broader group also weakened after reports that SK Hynix’s weak profit forecast and post-IPO reversal triggered selling across chip and storage names, including Western Digital. Micron, SanDisk, Western Digital Fall 6% as SK Hynix’s Weak Outlook Rattles Memory Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Another report said WDC was down in pre-market trading as investors dumped memory-chip stocks amid sector-wide weakness and rising geopolitical tension. Why Is Western Digital Stock (WDC) Falling in Pre-Market Today, 7/13/26?
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary also noted that global chip stocks were under pressure as investors reconsidered the sustainability of aggressive AI spending and related valuations. Intel, AMD, Sandisk, and More Stocks That Explain Today’s Market
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital also announced it will report fourth-quarter and fiscal 2026 results on August 5, which keeps investor attention focused on upcoming earnings but does not by itself change the near-term trading setup. WD to Announce Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results on August 5, 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Despite the selloff, some analysts remain constructive, citing strong demand and tight HDD supply as reasons Western Digital could still have upside if fundamentals hold. Why Analysts Are Betting Western Digital Stock Can Gain Another 30% from Here

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on WDC. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Western Digital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.32.

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.