Westpac Banking Corp Buys 14,462 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Westpac Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 231.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 20,720 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,462 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $5,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 4,070.0% during 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 during the period. Avion Wealth lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% in the 4th 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. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, BOKF NA grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% during the 3rd 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. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $548.39 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $561.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $390.88. The company has a market capitalization of $189.02 billion, a PE ratio of 32.74 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $66.04 and a one year high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 3.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on WDC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.32.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from a sector-wide rebound in semiconductors, with investors buying back into memory stocks after a steep pullback. Why Is Western Digital Stock Surging on Tuesday?
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that AI is driving stronger memory and storage demand are supporting the bull case for Western Digital, with analysts expecting a continued recovery in pricing and earnings power. NVIDIA Isn’t Leading AI Stocks in 2026 – These 2 Are Up Over 180%
• Positive Sentiment: Several market summaries say Western Digital is part of a broad AI trade rebound, alongside Micron and SanDisk, as investors look ahead to major tech earnings and a potential memory upgrade cycle. Chip Stocks Surge but Software Sector Feels the Pain Again
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital has also been mentioned in commentary about a possible 2027 hardware refresh cycle tied to AI memory growth, which could help long-term demand but is still more of a future thesis than a near-term catalyst. AAPL, HPQ, SNDK, WDC: Gene Munster Says ‘Memory Hog’ AI Will Trigger a Massive 2027 Upgrade Cycle

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 116,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This trade represents a 0.37% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,959 shares of company stock worth $12,631,666. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.