California State Teachers Retirement System Buys 337,864,310 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System dramatically increased its Western Digital stake during the second quarter, buying 337.9 million shares and reportedly reaching 98.17% ownership. Overall, institutions and hedge funds own 92.51% of the stock.
• Western Digital reported quarterly EPS of $3.56 and revenue of $3.75 billion, exceeding estimates, with revenue up 43.8% year over year. Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $534.56.
• The investment case is supported by AI-driven storage demand, tighter memory supply and stronger pricing, but insider selling and an elevated valuation remain risks if sector momentum weakens. Insiders sold 23,210 shares worth about $10.4 million over the past three months.

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 64,424.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 338,388,746 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 337,864,310 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 98.17% of Western Digital worth $216,135,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 45.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: A broad rally in memory stocks lifted Western Digital alongside SK Hynix and Seagate. Investors appear to be responding to stronger memory pricing, supply tightness and continued demand from artificial-intelligence data centers. SK Hynix Surges 7% as Memory Bid Widens Beyond NAND; Seagate Rallies 5%
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s investment case is supported by AI-driven storage growth, higher hard-disk-drive pricing and expanding margins. Recent earnings also showed revenue growth and earnings above consensus, while management’s next-quarter guidance points to continued momentum. WDC Stock's Big Rally: Buy, Sell, or Hold After a 70% 6-Month Surge?
• Positive Sentiment: China’s progress in memory manufacturing is not viewed as an immediate threat because Western Digital and peers reportedly have capacity committed under multiyear contracts. That could help protect near-term pricing and margins. Why China’s Memory Chip Breakthrough Won't Crash the Market
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive, with reported price targets above the current trading level, but the stock’s sharp six-month advance has made expectations demanding. Investors are watching whether future earnings estimates can justify the valuation. WDC Stock's Big Rally: Buy, Sell, or Hold After a 70% 6-Month Surge?
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider transactions have consisted of sales rather than purchases, including a director’s sale of roughly $2.5 million in shares. Insider selling and profit-taking previously pressured WDC, while the stock’s elevated valuation leaves it vulnerable if storage-sector momentum fades. Western Digital Falls as Sector Weakness and Insider Selling Weigh on Shares

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,210 shares of company stock worth $10,440,960. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on WDC shares. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price target on shares of Western Digital and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 price target on Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC opened at $467.46 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 2.13. Western Digital Corporation has a 1-year low of $91.43 and a 1-year high of $799.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $506.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $446.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is 2.48%.

Western Digital Company 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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