VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Takes $42.62 Million Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 66,733 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,624,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $676.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Fox Advisors downgraded Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. The trade was a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 23,210 shares of company stock worth $10,440,960 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $467.46 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $161.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 2.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $506.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $446.87. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $91.43 and a one year high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted 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 net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

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.