Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 45,252 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 1,784 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $28,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WDC. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Western Digital by 64,424.3% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 338,388,746 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $216,135,660,000 after buying an additional 337,864,310 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its position in shares of 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 worth $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,602,927,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $221,800,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WDC. Barclays upped their price target on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Mizuho set a $590.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $477.30 on Wednesday. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $92.70 and a 1-year high of $799.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $499.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $449.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 2.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $37,052,185.77. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% 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 90 days, insiders have sold 25,437 shares of company stock worth $11,461,345. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI demand supports long-term growth prospects. Rising data volumes from AI inference, agentic AI and other emerging workloads could increase demand for Western Digital’s data-storage products, offering a potential structural growth catalyst. AI Data Explosion: Can WDC Become a Bigger Storage Winner?
• Positive Sentiment: Strong free cash flow may support shareholder returns. Western Digital entered fiscal 2027 with improved cash generation and a net cash position. Continued free-cash-flow returns through buybacks and dividends may strengthen the investment case and help support the stock. Can Western Digital’s Strong FCF Sustain Buybacks and Dividends?
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital showed relative strength during a weaker market session. The stock gained while the overall market dipped, suggesting continued investor demand for the company’s earnings momentum and AI-related storage opportunity. Why the Market Dipped But Western Digital Gained Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention is elevated. Western Digital was among the stocks heavily searched by Zacks users, which can increase near-term trading interest but does not by itself indicate improving fundamentals or guarantee continued gains. Investors Heavily Search Western Digital Corporation

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) develops, manufactures and sells data storage products and solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises, businesses and consumers. Its portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs), including high-capacity enterprise drives used in cloud and data center environments, as well as products for network-attached storage, surveillance and personal computing.

The company markets products under brands including Western Digital, WD, WD_BLACK and Ultrastar.