Inceptionr LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Inceptionr LLC reduced its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 64.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,936 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 3,550 shares during the period. Inceptionr LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 33.3% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 132 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 80.2% during the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth $47,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Memory-chip peers such as Micron, Sandisk, and SK Hynix were reported surging on continued enthusiasm for AI infrastructure spending and tight memory supply, which can lift sentiment for Western Digital as well. Article: Why Micron, Sandisk, and SK Hynix Are Surging—And How to Play It
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted Western Digital’s AI storage exposure and relatively stronger financial footing versus peers like Super Micro, reinforcing the stock’s appeal as an AI hardware play. Article: WDC vs. SMCI: Which AI Hardware Stock is the Smarter Investment Now?
• Positive Sentiment: A valuation piece argued that Western Digital still looks attractive on earnings and especially cheap on a cash-flow basis, suggesting the recent rally may have room to continue if AI demand remains strong. Article: Western Digital (WDC) Stock Looks Reasonable On Earnings While Cash Flow Looks Cheap
• Neutral Sentiment: One report said Western Digital reentered merger-focused discussion, but it did not provide a concrete transaction update, so the near-term stock impact is unclear. Article: Western Digital (WDC) Reenters Merger Focus, Where Does Fair Value Sit?
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position reported, which does not appear to be a major driver of the stock today.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WDC. TD Cowen upped their target price on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.32.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $519.80 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $66.51 and a 1-year high of $799.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $564.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $397.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.03 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,959 shares of company stock worth $12,631,666. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Western Digital

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.