Hanseatic Management Services Inc. Invests $2.11 Million in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Hanseatic Management Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,814 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,114,000. Western Digital makes up 2.0% of Hanseatic Management Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. AIA Group Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,119,000. Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,639,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth $1,567,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 80.2% during the first quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WDC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.32.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.2%

Western Digital stock opened at $477.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $164.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.49 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $66.04 and a 1-year high of $799.87. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $560.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $384.59.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: New coverage says Western Digital is well positioned to benefit from global AI infrastructure growth, with rising demand for advanced memory and storage supporting a stronger long-term revenue outlook. 4 Top-Ranked Memory Stocks to Buy as AI Infrastructure Expands Globally
• Positive Sentiment: Another report highlighted Western Digital as one of two smaller AI storage names that could benefit from expanding data center demand, citing improving margins and earnings growth potential. Everyone’s Buying NVIDIA, but 2 Smaller AI Stocks Could Soar Higher
• Positive Sentiment: A separate Zacks piece argues AI data growth is accelerating HDD demand and that Western Digital’s focused strategy could help it capture hyperscale storage opportunities. AI Data Growth is Exploding: Can Western Digital Keep Up?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several market wrap-ups noted high volatility in tech and momentum stocks, which is adding noise to trading in Western Digital and other memory names. The Tech Shakeout: Market Extremes & Gavin Baker’s Bold Call
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street commentary also flagged Western Digital as part of a broader AI-memory trade, with analysts still generally constructive but market sentiment swinging sharply day to day. Which Storage Stock Is Best Positioned to Win the AI Memory War?
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports said Western Digital fell alongside SanDisk and Micron as investors took profits in semiconductor and memory stocks, reflecting sector-wide rotation rather than company-specific trouble. Nasdaq Slips as Chip Stocks Come Under Pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital also faced a post-rally pullback as traders reassessed how durable the AI-driven storage boom will be ahead of the company’s next earnings report and guidance. Why Western Digital (WDC) Stock Is Down Today

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total value 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 approximately $39,905,270.79. The trade was a 4.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is 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.