ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Invests $945,000 in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $945,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WDC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $788,729,000. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $409,049,000 after buying an additional 3,339,225 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth approximately $221,800,000. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 267.6% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,691,659 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $291,422,000 after buying an additional 1,231,477 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $529.29 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $54.60 and a one year high of $602.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $441.92 and a 200-day moving average of $306.11. The company has a market capitalization of $182.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced 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 return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The company’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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on Western Digital from $500.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $433.29.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital and related memory stocks rebounded as investors rotated back into the group following SK Hynix’s capacity plan, which helped sentiment across the storage space. SanDisk Jumps 14%, Western Digital Climbs 6% as Memory Stocks Rebound on SK Hynix’s Capacity Plan
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on WDC, with recent price target increases from Mizuho and Citi reinforcing expectations for continued AI-driven storage demand and stronger earnings estimates. Mizuho and Citi Raise Western Digital (WDC) Price Targets
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s stock has also benefited from ongoing investor optimism around AI storage demand, pricing gains, and its more focused HDD-centric business mix. Western Digital Stock Skyrockets 185% YTD: Is More Growth on the Horizon?
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital announced a privately negotiated share exchange involving SanDisk investors, which may affect the company’s capital structure but is not clearly a direct earnings driver yet. Western Digital Announces Sandisk Share Exchange With Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent broker commentary has kept WDC at a “Moderate Buy,” supporting the stock but largely confirming already positive sentiment rather than adding a new catalyst. Western Digital Corporation Receives Consensus Rating of Moderate Buy from Brokerages

About Western Digital

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.