Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 31.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 676,042 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 316,689 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $182,868,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WDC. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 9.2% during the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,707 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.1% in the first quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 3,782 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,982 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WDC. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price objective on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $520.32.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $563.32 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $560.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $379.58. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $65.79 and a twelve month high of $799.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.63 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.58%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting 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

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.