National Pension Service Cuts Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• National Pension Service reduced its Western Digital stake by 4%, selling 57,060 shares and retaining 1.38 million shares valued at approximately $882 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of WDC.
• Western Digital delivered strong quarterly results, reporting $3.56 in adjusted EPS versus a $3.31 consensus estimate and $3.75 billion in revenue, up 43.8% year over year. The company issued fiscal Q1 2027 EPS guidance of $3.85–$4.15.
• Analysts remain generally bullish, but valuation and insider selling are risks. WDC has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average $534.56 price target, while shares trade near $482; insiders have sold shares recently, and the company declared a $0.15 quarterly dividend.

National Pension Service lowered its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,380,902 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 57,060 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.40% of Western Digital worth $882,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WDC. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 64,424.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 338,388,746 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $216,135,660,000 after buying an additional 337,864,310 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,602,927,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $221,800,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 112,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 80,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,052,185.77. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 25,437 shares of company stock valued at $11,461,345 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven storage demand remains a key growth catalyst. Rising data volumes from AI inference, agentic AI and other emerging workloads could support long-term demand for Western Digital’s data-center storage products. AI Data Explosion: Can WDC Become a Bigger Storage Winner?
• Positive Sentiment: Strong free cash flow supports shareholder returns. WDC entered fiscal 2027 with stronger cash generation and a net cash position, potentially enabling continued buybacks and dividend payments. The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share. Can Western Digital's Strong FCF Sustain Buybacks and Dividends?
• Positive Sentiment: Recent operating performance has exceeded expectations. Western Digital’s latest reported quarter included adjusted earnings of $3.56 per share versus the $3.31 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion. Fiscal first-quarter 2027 guidance of $3.85–$4.15 in EPS reinforces the bullish earnings narrative.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s Citi Global TMT Conference presentation is in focus. Investors are evaluating the company’s latest commentary on storage demand, AI exposure and fiscal 2027 prospects for additional clues about the sustainability of its growth. Western Digital Presents at Citi's 2026 Global TMT Conference
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation has become a concern. A separate analysis questions whether WDC is priced too aggressively after its substantial advance. With the stock trading at roughly 20 times earnings, further gains may depend on continued earnings growth and successful execution. Is Western Digital Priced Too High?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling adds a modest cautionary signal. Insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares and Cynthia Tregillis sold 432 shares. Both retained sizable holdings, and Tregillis’s transaction was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing its significance as a bearish signal. Western Digital Insider Selling

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on WDC shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Western Digital from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Fox Advisors cut Western Digital from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $482.28 on Thursday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $93.92 and a 52 week high of $799.87. The company has a market capitalization of $166.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 2.13. The stock's fifty day moving average is $496.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $450.83.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given 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 yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.48%.

Western Digital Profile

Western Digital Corporation NASDAQ: WDC develops, manufactures and sells data storage products and solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises, businesses and consumers. Its portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs), including high-capacity enterprise drives used in cloud and data center environments, as well as products for network-attached storage, surveillance and personal computing.

The company markets products under brands including Western Digital, WD, WD_BLACK and Ultrastar.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.