Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by SBI Securities Co. Ltd.

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. cut its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 49.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,091 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 5,020 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,602,927,000. ABS Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,226,342,000. Anther Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $901,601,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $885,565,000. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $627,606,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Summit Insights cut shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 target price on shares of Western Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $730.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $584.00.

Western Digital Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $343.67 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $121.85 and a twelve month high of $799.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $432.18 and its 200-day moving average is $479.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 69.20% and a return on equity of 56.91%. Western Digital’s revenue was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a $0.1750 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 2.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 112,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,650,465.80. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,436 shares of company stock valued at $11,340,064. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal Q1 2027 adjusted EPS of $4.64, above the roughly $4.09–$4.11 consensus, while revenue rose 55.5% year over year to $4.38 billion. Growth was driven by strong cloud and data-center demand, higher-capacity drives and improved pricing. Western Digital Q1 earnings and revenues beat estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued substantially stronger-than-expected fiscal Q2 guidance, calling for revenue of approximately $5.0 billion to $5.2 billion and adjusted EPS of $5.60 to $6.00, versus consensus estimates near $4.5 billion and $4.72, respectively. Western Digital forecasts strong second-quarter growth
• Positive Sentiment: AI-related storage demand remains durable, with management citing growing requirements from inference, robotics and long-term data retention. Analysts and industry commentators expect HDDs to remain an important, cost-effective storage layer for data centers, potentially supporting demand visibility into 2030–2031. Western Digital CEO discusses durable AI storage demand
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital generated about $1.38 billion in free cash flow and increased its quarterly dividend 16.7% to $0.175 per share. JPMorgan also raised its price target to $650 and maintained an overweight rating. Western Digital Q1 revenue and dividend update
• Neutral Sentiment: Other analysts remained bullish but reduced some price targets, reflecting elevated expectations and uncertainty around the pace of future growth. TD Cowen, for example, lowered its target to $430 while retaining a buy rating; Rosenblatt and Cantor Fitzgerald also cut targets but remained positive.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock’s strong results were not enough to overcome a broad sell-off in AI, memory and technology shares. Investors are questioning whether hyperscaler capital spending can remain elevated and whether Western Digital’s unusually strong HDD pricing and margins are sustainable.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher planned capital expenditures, possible industry supply increases, inventory concerns and execution risks surrounding the HAMR technology transition are weighing on sentiment. Management also acknowledged that HDD price growth could eventually moderate. Western Digital faces capex and supply concerns
• Negative Sentiment: A disclosed insider sale of 807 shares worth approximately $306,660 added a modest sentiment overhang, although it was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and represented only a small portion of the insider’s holdings. SEC insider transaction filing

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.