J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Trims Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG cut its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 21.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,048 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 1,081 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WDC. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 325.1% in the 1st quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 68,870 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $18,629,000 after buying an additional 52,670 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 23.5% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth about $1,265,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in Western Digital by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 7,358 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,990,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Western Digital by 257.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 72,692 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $19,663,000 after purchasing an additional 52,359 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $685.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.32.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC opened at $563.32 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $560.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $379.58. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $65.79 and a 1 year high of $799.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.63 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital’s revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. 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 yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 3.58%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from a rebound in memory and storage stocks after Monday’s sector-wide drop tied to SK Hynix volatility and broader chip-market pressure. SK Hynix ADR Soars 19% as Leveraged ETFs Launch, Lifting Micron, SanDisk, Western Digital
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent analyst notes are bullish on WDC, with commentary citing strong demand, improving pricing, and the possibility of meaningful upside from current levels. Why Analysts Are Betting Western Digital Stock Can Gain Another 30% from Here
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s upcoming earnings report is in focus, and Wall Street is expecting a strong year-over-year profit jump, which could support the stock if results and guidance beat expectations. Western Digital’s Quarterly Earnings Preview: What You Need to Know
• Neutral Sentiment: The company has confirmed it will report fourth-quarter and fiscal 2026 results on August 5, keeping earnings-related speculation elevated in the near term. WD to Announce Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results on August 5, 2026
• Negative Sentiment: WDC remains sensitive to swings in the AI-memory trade, and the stock was recently hit by a sharp sector pullback sparked by SK Hynix’s weak outlook and broader chip-market jitters. SK Hynix’s record plunge drags down global chip stocks

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.