Kestra Advisory Services LLC Trims Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Kestra Advisory Services LLC lowered its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 26.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,262 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 3,679 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $2,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $456,884,000 after purchasing an additional 384,103 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its stake in 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 valued at $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $512,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,809,409 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $483,977,000 after buying an additional 159,167 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $477.22 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $66.04 and a one year high of $799.87. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $560.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $384.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.49 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $685.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.32.

Trending Headlines about 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

Western Digital Company 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.