Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Lowers Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 29.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,503,321 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 1,062,021 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.73% of Western Digital worth $676,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 229.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 55.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on WDC. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.32.

Key Headlines 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 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 stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $477.22 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.49 billion, a PE ratio of 28.49 and a beta of 2.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $560.89 and its 200 day moving average is $386.04. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $66.04 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share 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 $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.58%.

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.