Federated Hermes Inc. Buys 10,546 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 444.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,920 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,546 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $220,680,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in 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 buying an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 175.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,071 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $78,347,000 after buying an additional 784,645 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 338.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 722,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,735,296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $239,022,000 after acquiring an additional 545,500 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $269.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.34 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.80. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $296.50.

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

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total value of $277,956.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,524.46. This represents a 31.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 2,801 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.57, for a total value of $449,756.57. Following the sale, the insider owned 144,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,217,779.72. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,816 shares of company stock worth $6,211,148. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board approved an additional $4 billion share repurchase program, signaling strong capital-return intent and likely supporting near-term demand for shares. Reuters: Western Digital adds $4 billion to buyback plan
• Positive Sentiment: Company held Innovation Day and unveiled an AI-focused storage roadmap (path to 100TB+ HDDs, UltraSMR adoption) and rebranded to “WD,” reinforcing its strategic role in AI data infrastructure. BusinessWire: Western Digital Accelerates Storage Innovation
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results and guidance confirm strong demand: solid Q2 revenue/EPS and the broader “memory supercycle” thesis (AI training & storage needs) that supports durable end-market growth for high-capacity HDDs. MarketBeat: The Memory Supercycle Is Here
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are raising targets and reiterating buys (examples: Mizuho and Rosenblatt with $340 PTs), adding upward pressure to sentiment and fueling momentum. The Fly: Price target raised at Mizuho
• Neutral Sentiment: SanDisk (spun off from WDC) is rallying dramatically, highlighting a broader memory-led rotation into AI hardware; that thematic lift helps WDC but also concentrates sector exposure and volatility risk. MarketBeat: Sandisk’s Swings Are Getting Bigger
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/policy pieces (U.S. push to secure critical-mineral supply chains) could be supportive for domestic supply stability over time but are not an immediate stock catalyst. MarketBeat: Trump administration pushes critical minerals plan
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares (~3.1% reduction in his disclosed position), a near-term negative signal that may have contributed to profit-taking despite his remaining large stake. SEC filing: Insider sale disclosure

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WDC. Bank of America increased their target price on Western Digital from $197.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Western Digital from $200.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, January 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, New Street Research set a $250.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.25.

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.