Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 243,177 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 243,177 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.66% of Western Digital worth $5,196,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,305,289 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $593,045,000 after acquiring an additional 186,030 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at about $791,317,000. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in Western Digital by 8.5% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 5,535,972 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $354,247,000 after purchasing an additional 431,419 shares during the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,735,296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $239,022,000 after purchasing an additional 545,500 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $220,680,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI customers have bought essentially all WD hard-drive capacity for 2026, creating immediate revenue visibility, stronger utilization and pricing leverage for HDDs. This is the primary driver behind the stock strength. AI Demand Clears Out Western Digital’s Hard Drive Supply for 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction: analysts and market outlets report the “sold out” message has already pushed the stock higher as investors price in stronger FY26 revenue and margin tailwinds from AI hyperscalers. Western Digital Stock Jumps on Huge AI Hard Drive Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple tech outlets note the shortage extends across HDD and enterprise SSD supply, implying pricing power and higher ASPs for storage products. That supports revenue/margin upside. Thanks to AI, WD and Seagate SSDs are about to get much more expensive
• Positive Sentiment: Sell‑side sentiment is warming — Cantor Fitzgerald and Goldman Sachs raised WDC price targets, reinforcing the bullish thesis and supporting further multiple expansion. Cantor Fitzgerald and Goldman Sachs lift Western Digital (WDC) price targets
• Positive Sentiment: Company actions: WDC expanded buybacks (announced previously), supporting shareholder returns and signaling confidence in free cash flow as AI demand lifts sales. That is a constructive catalyst for the stock. Is Western Digital’s $4B Buyback Plan a Smart Move or a Risk?
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks added WDC to their Rank #1 (Strong Buy) growth list, reflecting momentum but not changing fundamentals by itself. Best Growth Stocks to Buy for February 17th
• Neutral Sentiment: WDC plans to sell some Sandisk shares to bolster its balance sheet and reduce debt; that will raise cash and lower leverage but reduces its stake in an asset — a balance-sheet move investors should watch for execution and timing. Sandisk’s stock falls as Western Digital plans to sell shares. What investors need to know.
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate governance/relations: WDC CFO Kris Sennesael joined the board of MaxLinear — a non-core development that may broaden industry relationships but has limited direct impact on WDC’s financials. MaxLinear Adds Western Digital CFO Kris Sennesael to Board
• Negative Sentiment: Risks: analysts and some commentaries warn buybacks and heavier capital returns come as WDC remains cyclical and indebted; if AI demand cools, capacity-led cycles could reverse margins quickly. Investors should weigh buyback upside against cyclicality and leverage risk. Is Western Digital’s $4B Buyback Plan a Smart Move or a Risk?

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 1,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value of $272,272.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,090. The trade was a 33.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 6,780 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $1,833,922.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 136,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,932,163.62. This trade represents a 4.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 70,522 shares of company stock worth $17,661,708 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WDC. UBS Group set a $306.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $197.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Western Digital from $260.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.58.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $284.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $307.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $221.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.08. The company has a market capitalization of $96.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.80.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.77 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.02%.

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.