Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $16.67 Million Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 96,743 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,296 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $16,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,196,484,000 after acquiring an additional 243,177 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter valued at approximately $791,317,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $456,884,000 after acquiring an additional 384,103 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 11.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,804,907 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $456,737,000 after acquiring an additional 402,981 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% during the third 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $483.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $166.53 billion, a PE ratio of 28.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $321.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.79. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $43.60 and a twelve month high of $483.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released 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 firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 2.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Argus set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,905,270.79. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 60,459 shares of company stock valued at $19,883,236 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat and upbeat guidance — WDC reported an EPS beat and raised its FYQ4 EPS range, with accelerating revenue and margins driven by AI/data?center HDD demand, which is a core reason investors are bidding the stock up. Western Digital Stock Surges After Q3 Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price-target lifts — Multiple firms (including TD Cowen and Wells Fargo) raised price targets into the ~$500 area and reiterated buy/overweight views, reinforcing momentum and giving investors fresh upside conviction. AI Boom Drives Western Digital Toward $500 Target
• Positive Sentiment: Sector tailwind from SanDisk’s breakout — SanDisk’s dramatic post?spinoff rally and strength in memory suppliers supports a bullish narrative for WDC as customers scale AI/datacenter capacity. SanDisk Outpaces Former Parent
• Positive Sentiment: Risk?on market backdrop and media endorsements — Falling VIX and bullish TV/press coverage (including Jim Cramer highlighting storage stocks) have helped rotate capital into tech and storage names like WDC. Jim Cramer on Storage Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Equity?for?equity exchange announced — WD entered agreements to exchange Sandisk and WDC shares (settlement expected May 7). This is a capital?structure/holder rearrangement that is informational but not clearly dilutive or immediately value?creating. WD Announces Equity-for-Equity Exchange
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor outreach — WDC presented at Barclays’ conference and has widespread coverage; useful for transparency and flows but not an immediate catalyst. Barclays Conference Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling / executive stock sales — CEO Irving Tan (20,000 shares under a 10b5?1 plan) and other executives sold shares recently; while some sales were pre?arranged, investors often view sizable insider selling near highs as a modest negative signal. Irving Tan SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Additional insider reductions — Other insiders (including the COO) sold smaller stakes this week, which may keep some traders cautious about near?term profit?taking risk. Executives Unload $10M+

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.