Meeder Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,197 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,707,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $456,884,000 after acquiring an additional 384,103 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $512,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,661 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 6.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 159,167 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 114,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,663,290.57. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 25,093 shares of company stock valued at $11,650,737 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Summit Insights downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Fox Advisors cut shares of Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.56.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Improving fundamentals supported the move higher. Expanding margins and a forecast-beating outlook gave Western Digital-specific support beyond the broader storage-sector rally. The company recently exceeded quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, while revenue grew sharply year over year. Western Digital Stock Jumps Over 6% as Memory Rally Accelerates
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst earnings estimates are being revised upward. Recent estimate revisions suggest expectations for Western Digital’s earnings are improving, potentially supporting additional near-term share-price momentum. Can Western Digital Run Higher on Rising Earnings Estimates?
• Positive Sentiment: AI-related storage demand and pricing tailwinds remain key catalysts. Western Digital is entering fiscal 2027 with expectations for strong end-market demand, better pricing, cloud growth tied to artificial intelligence, and a recovery in its hard-disk-drive business. Can Strong End Markets and Pricing Tailwinds Keep WDC’s Momentum Alive?
• Positive Sentiment: A broad memory-sector rally lifted sentiment. Elon Musk’s comments about a potential memory bottleneck, along with strong long-term expectations for peer SanDisk, helped boost storage and memory stocks, including WDC. Political developments cited by market coverage also contributed to the positive tone. SanDisk Rallies, Western Digital Rises, and Micron Gains as Elon Musk Flags a Memory Bottleneck
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon discounted a WD-branded 5TB My Passport portable hard drive. The promotion may support consumer visibility but is unlikely to materially affect Western Digital’s investment outlook. Amazon Clears Out WD 5TB My Passport Portable External Hard Drive
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street Zen lowered its rating on Western Digital, providing a counterpoint to the more optimistic earnings and industry-demand signals. Western Digital Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $536.01 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $556.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $428.76. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $73.14 and a one year high of $799.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The company’s revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

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.