South Dakota Investment Council Sells 111,541 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

South Dakota Investment Council cut its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 96.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,267 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after selling 111,541 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Level Four Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,184,000. CI Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 2,591 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 6.3% during the third quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 10,270 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 274.5% during the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 39,350 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $4,724,000 after purchasing an additional 28,843 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total transaction of $5,108,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 623,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $159,288,807.84. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total value of $2,743,105.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 107,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,137,796.14. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 84,277 shares of company stock worth $22,091,068 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. New Street Research set a $250.00 target price on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.58.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $245.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $246.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $309.90.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company completed the spin‑off of its flash business and repositioned as a pure‑play HDD supplier, reportedly selling a ~$3.1B stake and securing long‑term hyperscaler agreements that fully book HDD production through at least 2028 — this improves cash, reduces leverage and gives multi‑year revenue visibility. Western Digital Bets On Pure HDD Future With Hyperscaler AI Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Management and analysts highlight sold‑out nearline/HDD capacity for 2026 and guidance pointing to material revenue and margin expansion driven by AI (video, large‑model data), underpinning a structural re‑rating story. Western Digital: AI’s Unsung Storage Backbone
• Neutral Sentiment: Options flow and institutional activity show heightened trading interest — large option bets and increased analyst coverage keep liquidity high but also increase short‑term volatility. Western Digital’s Options: A Look at What the Big Money is Thinking
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer retail promotions and pricing anomalies (e.g., SSD deals) create short‑term retail noise but have limited impact on the enterprise HDD thesis that’s driving the stock. This 2TB WD SN850X is cheaper from Walmart than the equivalent 1TB model in a strange deal
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales were disclosed (senior execs sold shares on March 4), which can sap near‑term sentiment even if sales are for diversification; investors often view clustered executive selling as a caution flag. Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Insider Sells $2,501,349.48 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warn of valuation and cyclical peak risk — some argue recent gains price in peak AI storage demand and a pullback or normalization in hyperscaler buying could trigger downside. Market anxiety after a very large prior run (and a recent sharp sell‑off episode) contributes to heavier profit‑taking. Western Digital: Strong AI Tailwinds, But Valuation Signals Cyclical Peak Risk What Drove WDC Stock’s Historic 490% Jump

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.