Hershey Financial Advisers LLC Takes $1.57 Million Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,793 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,567,000. Western Digital makes up approximately 1.4% of Hershey Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 80.2% in the first quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its stake in Western Digital by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 19,568 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,293,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 132 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth $276,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total transaction of $235,699.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 116,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,640,420.80. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $477.22 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $560.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $384.59. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $66.04 and a 52 week high of $799.87. 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 (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price objective on Western Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued 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 News Roundup

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

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.