Western Digital Corporation $WDC Stock Position Raised by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 68,453 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,720 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $31,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Founders Financial Securities LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,005,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.5% during the third quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,313 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,506,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 72.5% during the third quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 88 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Parametrica Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter valued at about $1,585,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the company’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 transaction of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 112,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the sale, the insider owned 80,571 shares in the company, valued at $37,052,185.77. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,436 shares of company stock worth $11,340,064. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue of $4.38 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $4.64 and free cash flow of $1.38 billion, exceeding expectations. Management also forecast approximately $5.1 billion in fiscal second-quarter revenue and $5.80 in non-GAAP EPS, signaling continued strength in AI-related data-center storage demand. Western Digital slides as strong results fail to calm spending and sector worries
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst targets remain well above the current trading level, with Quiver Quantitative citing a six-month median target of $650. Several analysts view Western Digital as a major beneficiary of AI infrastructure expansion and rising demand for high-capacity nearline hard drives. Western Digital selloff and analyst targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital and Seagate are both benefiting from AI data-center spending. However, comparisons favor Seagate on some metrics, including return on equity, valuation and free-cash-flow generation, potentially affecting investor preference within the storage group. Seagate versus Western Digital
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are questioning whether AI infrastructure spending and lofty storage-sector valuations can remain sustainable. A sharp decline in Sandisk and weakness across memory and semiconductor stocks amplified pressure on WDC, even after Sandisk delivered strong results and raised guidance. Memory-sector selloff
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly capital spending of $227 million, continued buybacks and capacity and technology-transition needs have raised concerns about cash demands and future returns. Profit-taking after WDC’s substantial earlier advance may also be contributing to the decline. Quiver also reports 110 insider sales and no insider purchases over the past six months, an additional sentiment headwind. Western Digital spending and insider activity

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $366.11 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $132.43 and a 52 week high of $799.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 2.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $421.46 and its 200 day moving average is $416.75.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 69.20% and a return on equity of 55.62%. Western Digital’s revenue was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 23.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a $0.1750 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on WDC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $540.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $668.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $900.00 to $625.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.04.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.