Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich

Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich lessened its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 51.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 17,169 shares during the quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $10,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew 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 worth $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,602,927,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new stake in Western Digital during the third quarter worth approximately $221,800,000. Finally, Anther Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at $901,601,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: A broad rally in memory stocks lifted Western Digital alongside SK Hynix and Seagate. Investors appear to be responding to stronger memory pricing, supply tightness and continued demand from artificial-intelligence data centers. SK Hynix Surges 7% as Memory Bid Widens Beyond NAND; Seagate Rallies 5%
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s investment case is supported by AI-driven storage growth, higher hard-disk-drive pricing and expanding margins. Recent earnings also showed revenue growth and earnings above consensus, while management’s next-quarter guidance points to continued momentum. WDC Stock’s Big Rally: Buy, Sell, or Hold After a 70% 6-Month Surge?
• Positive Sentiment: China’s progress in memory manufacturing is not viewed as an immediate threat because Western Digital and peers reportedly have capacity committed under multiyear contracts. That could help protect near-term pricing and margins. Why China’s Memory Chip Breakthrough Won’t Crash the Market
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive, with reported price targets above the current trading level, but the stock’s sharp six-month advance has made expectations demanding. Investors are watching whether future earnings estimates can justify the valuation. WDC Stock’s Big Rally: Buy, Sell, or Hold After a 70% 6-Month Surge?
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider transactions have consisted of sales rather than purchases, including a director’s sale of roughly $2.5 million in shares. Insider selling and profit-taking previously pressured WDC, while the stock’s elevated valuation leaves it vulnerable if storage-sector momentum fades. Western Digital Falls as Sector Weakness and Insider Selling Weigh on Shares

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $676.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Up 5.9%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $467.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $161.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 2.13. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $91.43 and a twelve month high of $799.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $506.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $445.72.

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

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. The trade was a 3.36% 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 23,210 shares of company stock worth $10,440,960 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.