Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Invests $15.07 Million in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 125,508 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,068,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 124.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $30,000. JNBA Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 309 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 131.9% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 385 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total transaction of $3,013,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,265,422.23. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total transaction of $277,956.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,524.46. The trade was a 31.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,816 shares of company stock valued at $4,116,148. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $241.90 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $179.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.78. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $244.90.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 30.89% and a net margin of 21.37%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.730-2.030 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th were paid a $0.125 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $200.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price target on Western Digital from $115.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.76.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Significant analyst upgrades and price-target hikes have lifted conviction: Bank of America raised its WDC target to $257 and kept a buy rating. Bank of America note
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt also boosted its target sharply to $270 and reiterated a buy view, adding momentum to the rally. Rosenblatt note
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary highlights a structural rotation from GPUs to storage — investors cite tight NAND/HDD supply, pricing power and AI-driven demand for capacity as a multi-quarter tailwind for WDC. MarketBeat: Forget the Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Corporate catalyst: Western Digital scheduled an Innovation Day for Feb. 3 to showcase AI/storage roadmaps (HAMR, data?center HDD/SSD strategy) — a positive event that could reinforce the AI-storage narrative. Innovation Day announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings: WDC is projected to report next Thursday — results and guidance could amplify moves in either direction. Earnings projection
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sale: Director/officer Cynthia Tregillis sold 447 shares (~$229 avg). The trade is small relative to her total holdings and is reported in an SEC filing. SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer promotions (e.g., a temporary discount on a WD_Black expansion card) are visible but unlikely to move the data-center-driven rally. Kotaku: WD_Black discount
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and momentum concerns: several pieces warn WDC’s rapid, multi?hundred?percent rally may be overextended and susceptible to a pullback if supply/pricing normalizes. Yahoo: Has WDC run too far?
• Negative Sentiment: Cycling risk: analysts note WDC is not a pure AI play — if memory supply recovers or HBM demand dynamics change, earnings and multiples could re-rate lower. Seeking Alpha: pullback risk

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.