Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Free Report) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,018 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,344 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $61,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth $31,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 45.5% during the second quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity
In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of Western Digital 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 sale, the insider owned 112,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,650,465.80. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 currently owned by company insiders.
Western Digital News Roundup
- Positive Sentiment: Strong free cash flow supports shareholder returns. Western Digital entered fiscal 2027 with stronger cash generation and a net cash position. Continued plans to return free cash flow through buybacks and dividends could support earnings per share and provide a favorable signal about balance-sheet strength. Can Western Digital’s Strong FCF Sustain Buybacks and Dividends?
- Positive Sentiment: AI-related storage demand offers a long-term growth opportunity. The expansion of AI inference, agentic AI and other data-intensive workloads could increase demand for Western Digital’s storage products. This positions the company as a potential beneficiary of the broader AI data buildout, although the opportunity depends on sustained adoption and investment by customers. AI Data Explosion: Can WDC Become a Bigger Storage Winner?
- Neutral Sentiment: Heavy investor searches indicate elevated attention, not a fundamental catalyst. Western Digital has recently ranked among the stocks most searched by Zacks users. This may increase visibility and trading interest, but the report does not identify a new business development or change to the company’s outlook. Investors Heavily Search Western Digital Corporation
Analyst Ratings Changes
WDC has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Fox Advisors lowered shares of Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.
View Our Latest Research Report on WDC
Western Digital Trading Up 2.1%
Shares of NASDAQ WDC traded up $9.84 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $477.30. 6,389,724 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,682,061. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $502.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $448.16. The company has a market capitalization of $164.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 2.13. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $92.70 and a 52-week high of $799.87.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. Western Digital’s revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.
Western Digital Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.48%.
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.
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