iA Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 7,335 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 79,576 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 7,335 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $21,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WDC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth about $788,729,000. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $409,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,339,225 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings 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 valued at $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter worth approximately $221,800,000. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 267.6% in the fourth 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. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Melius Research initiated coverage of Western Digital with a Buy rating and a price target implying significant upside, boosting investor confidence in the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted about 55% upside for Western Digital and noted bullish options flow, with call buying outpacing put buying, suggesting traders are positioning for further gains. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital has been screening as a top momentum name in AI infrastructure, helped by strong earnings trends and continued demand tied to storage needs. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent market commentary says Western Digital remains in a strong bullish trend and is trading well above its 200-day moving average, which supports the stock technically but does not add a major new catalyst. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Western Digital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $484.04.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.0%

WDC opened at $638.72 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $529.13 and its 200 day moving average is $352.48. The company has a market cap of $220.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.13 and a beta of 2.13. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $62.94 and a 12-month high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of Western Digital 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 transaction, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at $63,640,420.80. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.