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

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Western Digital by 7.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Western Digital by 229.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 55.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $519.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $564.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $397.06. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $66.51 and a 1 year high of $799.87. The firm has a market cap of $179.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.03 and a beta of 2.11.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. 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. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Fox Advisors lowered Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.32.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider owned 116,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This represents a 0.37% 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 sold 28,959 shares of company stock worth $12,631,666 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.