Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 140,165 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 11,589 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $37,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,270,000. WESPAC Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $793,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $193,303,000 after buying an additional 282,156 shares in the last quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,889,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 145.8% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 5,950 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after buying an additional 3,529 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Memory-chip peers such as Micron, Sandisk, and SK Hynix were reported surging on continued enthusiasm for AI infrastructure spending and tight memory supply, which can lift sentiment for Western Digital as well. Article: Why Micron, Sandisk, and SK Hynix Are Surging—And How to Play It
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted Western Digital’s AI storage exposure and relatively stronger financial footing versus peers like Super Micro, reinforcing the stock’s appeal as an AI hardware play. Article: WDC vs. SMCI: Which AI Hardware Stock is the Smarter Investment Now?
• Positive Sentiment: A valuation piece argued that Western Digital still looks attractive on earnings and especially cheap on a cash-flow basis, suggesting the recent rally may have room to continue if AI demand remains strong. Article: Western Digital (WDC) Stock Looks Reasonable On Earnings While Cash Flow Looks Cheap
• Neutral Sentiment: One report said Western Digital reentered merger-focused discussion, but it did not provide a concrete transaction update, so the near-term stock impact is unclear. Article: Western Digital (WDC) Reenters Merger Focus, Where Does Fair Value Sit?
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position reported, which does not appear to be a major driver of the stock today.

Western Digital Trading Down 6.9%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $519.80 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $66.51 and a 12-month high of $799.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $564.90 and its 200 day moving average is $397.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.03 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Western Digital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Western Digital from $685.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.32.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 28,959 shares of company stock worth $12,631,666 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.