Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 2,749 Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 2,749 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inscription Capital LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 27.4% in the third quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 5,648 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $127,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 38,461 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,618,000 after acquiring an additional 11,794 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $231,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $212,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total transaction of $3,013,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 645,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,265,422.23. This represents a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 1,768 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value of $272,272.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,585 shares in the company, valued at $552,090. This trade represents a 33.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 26,369 shares of company stock worth $4,013,785 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $222.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.21. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $230.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $177.73 and its 200 day moving average is $127.05.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 30.89%. The business’s revenue was up 27.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.730-2.030 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 4th. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 7.28%.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its WDC price target to $257 and kept a “buy” rating, citing continued upside from AI-driven storage demand and margin improvement. Bank of America resets WDC price target
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt Securities also lifted its price target substantially (to $270) and maintained a buy view, another signal that sell-side sentiment has shifted materially higher. Benzinga coverage of Rosenblatt price-target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary and valuation checks point to upgraded earnings expectations driven by AI-storage demand, helping justify higher multiples and supporting near-term share strength. Western Digital (WDC) Valuation Check
• Positive Sentiment: Sector pieces argue memory/storage stocks still have room to run — supply tightness, firm pricing and rising margins could extend the rally, which benefits WDC as a major AI-storage supplier. Why Memory Stocks Like Western Digital May Still Rally
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital will host an Innovation Day on Feb. 3 to showcase AI-focused storage innovations — an event that could catalyze investor interest if management presents compelling product roadmaps or customer traction. Western Digital to Host Innovation Day 2026
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile investors increased WDC exposure in past quarters (reported billionaire buys), which can signal institutional confidence and help support momentum. Billionaires Buy 2 AI Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer product promotion: a temporary discount on a WD_Black Xbox expansion card may boost consumer sales visibility but is unlikely to move the enterprise/AI-driven revenue narrative. WD_Black 1TB Storage Expansion Card Discount
• Negative Sentiment: Contrarian caution: a Seeking Alpha piece notes that while WDC is riding the AI wave, valuations and momentum risks raise the possibility of a pullback if growth expectations disappoint or sentiment reverses. Disk Maker Western Digital Rides The AI Wave, But A Pullback Could Occur

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Western Digital from $145.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $135.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $193.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.76.

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.