Bessemer Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 284.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,401 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,439 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WDC. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at $791,317,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $220,680,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 175.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,071 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $78,347,000 after purchasing an additional 784,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Western Digital by 338.3% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 936,313 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $59,915,000 after buying an additional 722,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven “memory supercycle” thesis — smart money is rotating into memory names as AI infrastructure demand creates historic needs for speed and capacity, supporting WDC’s secular demand outlook. The Memory Supercycle Is Here—2 Winners From 1 Breakup
• Positive Sentiment: Large buyback — WDC authorized an additional $4.0 billion share repurchase (bringing total remaining capacity to ~$4.484B), which reduces share count and signals management confidence. This is a key near-term driver for EPS accretion and sentiment. 3 Massive Buybacks That Map the Market’s Mood in 2026 (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Margin improvement — WDC reported a 46.1% gross margin in fiscal Q2 (up ~770 bps YoY and 220 bps sequentially), showing the company is capturing pricing and mix benefits from a tight supply environment. Higher margins underpin profitability and valuation expansion. What’s Supporting Western Digital’s Gross Margin Momentum?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support — Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325 price target, providing additional broker support and implied upside from current levels. Wedbush Outperform Reaffirmation
• Positive Sentiment: Debt reduction — Western Digital completed redemption of its 2026 senior notes, tightening near-term liabilities and improving financial flexibility. That reduces refinancing risk and complements shareholder-return actions. Western Digital Completes Redemption of 2026 Senior Notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Context and momentum recap — Longer-form coverage (Forbes) highlights WDC’s ~500% multi‑year surge driven by AI demand, restructuring, and buybacks; useful for sentiment but largely descriptive rather than a fresh catalyst. What’s Behind The Incredible 500% Surge Of Western Digital Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector tailwinds — Coverage (The Motley Fool / CNBC mentions) reiterates an AI memory crunch benefiting suppliers like WDC; supports the structural bull case but is broader sector confirmation rather than company-specific news. The AI Memory Crunch Is Creating Winners and Losers. Here Are the Stocks to Buy

Western Digital Stock Up 1.2%

Western Digital stock opened at $285.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $296.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.79.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.77 EPS. Western Digital’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Western Digital from $240.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, January 16th. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $193.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Argus set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 1,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total transaction of $272,272.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,090. This trade represents a 33.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total transaction of $5,108,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,288,807.84. The trade was a 3.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 70,522 shares of company stock worth $17,661,708 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.