Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Bought by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 424,942 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,622 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $193,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 182.6% during the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 65 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total value of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares in the company, valued at $37,052,185.77. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at $53,650,465.80. This represents a 0.89% 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 sold 25,436 shares of company stock valued at $11,340,064 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Down 7.4%

Western Digital stock opened at $366.11 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $132.43 and a 12-month high of $799.87. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $421.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $416.75. The stock has a market cap of $137.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. Western Digital had a return on equity of 55.62% and a net margin of 69.20%. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 23.62 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a $0.1750 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.33%.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue of $4.38 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $4.64 and free cash flow of $1.38 billion, exceeding expectations. Management also forecast approximately $5.1 billion in fiscal second-quarter revenue and $5.80 in non-GAAP EPS, signaling continued strength in AI-related data-center storage demand. Western Digital slides as strong results fail to calm spending and sector worries
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst targets remain well above the current trading level, with Quiver Quantitative citing a six-month median target of $650. Several analysts view Western Digital as a major beneficiary of AI infrastructure expansion and rising demand for high-capacity nearline hard drives. Western Digital selloff and analyst targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital and Seagate are both benefiting from AI data-center spending. However, comparisons favor Seagate on some metrics, including return on equity, valuation and free-cash-flow generation, potentially affecting investor preference within the storage group. Seagate versus Western Digital
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are questioning whether AI infrastructure spending and lofty storage-sector valuations can remain sustainable. A sharp decline in Sandisk and weakness across memory and semiconductor stocks amplified pressure on WDC, even after Sandisk delivered strong results and raised guidance. Memory-sector selloff
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly capital spending of $227 million, continued buybacks and capacity and technology-transition needs have raised concerns about cash demands and future returns. Profit-taking after WDC’s substantial earlier advance may also be contributing to the decline. Quiver also reports 110 insider sales and no insider purchases over the past six months, an additional sentiment headwind. Western Digital spending and insider activity

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Summit Insights lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $900.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Susquehanna set a $405.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Western Digital from $740.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.04.

Western Digital Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.