Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases New Shares in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 141,306 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $90,255,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,602,927,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth $221,800,000. Finally, Anther Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth $901,601,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price objective on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Fox Advisors cut Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 value of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 26,117 shares of company stock worth $12,053,353 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of WDC opened at $462.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08 and a beta of 2.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $532.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $439.49. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $77.90 and a 12-month high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s AI- and cloud-storage growth thesis remains intact. Industry momentum from AI infrastructure, cloud computing, the Internet of Things and automotive applications is supporting expectations for continued demand. 3 Storage Devices Stocks to Buy as the Industry Gains Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: A recent exchange of approximately $191 million of 3% convertible notes due 2028 is viewed as constructive liability management because it can reduce debt, although issuing shares may create some dilution. What’s Going on With Western Digital Stock on Wednesday?
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital recently reported revenue growth of 44% year over year to $3.75 billion and earnings of $3.56 per share, exceeding estimates. Its next-quarter earnings guidance of $3.85 to $4.15 per share also supports the bullish fundamental case.
• Positive Sentiment: Technical and analyst indicators remain favorable: a recent hammer chart pattern suggested potential support, while upward earnings-estimate revisions and a bullish Wall Street consensus point to possible longer-term recovery. Western Digital May Find a Bottom Soon

About Western Digital

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.