Centaurus Financial Inc. Raises Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 88.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,499 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $456,884,000 after purchasing an additional 384,103 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 1,926.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 70.4% during 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. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,809,409 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $483,977,000 after purchasing an additional 159,167 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,905,270.79. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 9,767 shares of company stock valued at $4,822,807 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $544.84 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $73.14 and a 12 month high of $799.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.53 and a beta of 2.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $568.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $407.59.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business’s revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.32.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: A significant “Power Inflow” alert, indicating strong institutional and retail buying pressure, helped trigger a sharp intraday rebound in Western Digital shares. Traders viewed the order-flow signal as bullish. Western Digital Shares Rise 4% After Key Trading Signal
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was included among AI-infrastructure stocks that could benefit from more than $750 billion in planned 2026 Big Tech spending. Rising demand for data-center storage and memory supports the company’s growth outlook. Buy 5 AI Infrastructure Stocks as Big Tech’s AI Spending Continues
• Positive Sentiment: The broader memory and storage sector rebounded strongly after a sharp selloff, lifting Western Digital alongside SanDisk, Micron, Seagate and SK Hynix. Analysts cited improving industry fundamentals, strong AI demand and limited near-term risk of semiconductor oversupply as reasons for optimism. Memory Stocks Blast Off
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerages currently assign Western Digital an average “Moderate Buy” recommendation, while investor attention has increased. The heightened interest may support trading momentum but also reflects the stock’s high volatility. Western Digital Given Average Recommendation of Moderate Buy
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling contributed to a prior decline and remains a sentiment overhang, particularly after Western Digital’s substantial rally. Western Digital Trading Down Following Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation is a key risk. Western Digital has been one of the strongest performers in the AI memory and storage trade, but its elevated valuation leaves less room for disappointment when the company reports earnings. Western Digital’s Earnings Will Test Whether Its AI Rally Has More Room

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.