Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by John G Ullman & Associates Inc.

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 48.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,958 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 31,350 shares during the quarter. Western Digital accounts for 1.2% of John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $8,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $221,800,000. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 267.6% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,691,659 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $291,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,477 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $512,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228,661 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider owned 90,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total transaction of $235,699.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: New coverage says Western Digital is well positioned to benefit from global AI infrastructure growth, with rising demand for advanced memory and storage supporting a stronger long-term revenue outlook. 4 Top-Ranked Memory Stocks to Buy as AI Infrastructure Expands Globally
• Positive Sentiment: Another report highlighted Western Digital as one of two smaller AI storage names that could benefit from expanding data center demand, citing improving margins and earnings growth potential. Everyone’s Buying NVIDIA, but 2 Smaller AI Stocks Could Soar Higher
• Positive Sentiment: A separate Zacks piece argues AI data growth is accelerating HDD demand and that Western Digital’s focused strategy could help it capture hyperscale storage opportunities. AI Data Growth is Exploding: Can Western Digital Keep Up?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several market wrap-ups noted high volatility in tech and momentum stocks, which is adding noise to trading in Western Digital and other memory names. The Tech Shakeout: Market Extremes & Gavin Baker’s Bold Call
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street commentary also flagged Western Digital as part of a broader AI-memory trade, with analysts still generally constructive but market sentiment swinging sharply day to day. Which Storage Stock Is Best Positioned to Win the AI Memory War?
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports said Western Digital fell alongside SanDisk and Micron as investors took profits in semiconductor and memory stocks, reflecting sector-wide rotation rather than company-specific trouble. Nasdaq Slips as Chip Stocks Come Under Pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital also faced a post-rally pullback as traders reassessed how durable the AI-driven storage boom will be ahead of the company’s next earnings report and guidance. Why Western Digital (WDC) Stock Is Down Today

Western Digital Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $477.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $164.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.49 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $66.04 and a 52-week high of $799.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $560.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $384.59.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on WDC shares. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Fox Advisors cut shares of Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.32.

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.