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

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Western Digital Corporation by 2.3% during Q2, owning about 0.06% of the company, valued at approximately $12.6 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded Western Digital's stock ratings and price targets, with Citigroup raising its target from $88.00 to $110.00, reflecting strong market confidence.
• Western Digital recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, with a payout ratio of 7.77%, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 2.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 197,043 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,461 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned about 0.06% of Western Digital worth $12,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Western Digital by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,465 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Western Digital by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Western Digital by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 6,080 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Western Digital by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 45,395 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,835,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total value of $1,024,159.47. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 151,596 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,687,602.84. The trade was a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total value of $28,557.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 27,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,682.50. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,921,594. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on WDC shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Western Digital from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Western Digital from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Western Digital to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Western Digital from $53.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Western Digital from $87.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.63.

Western Digital Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $106.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $113.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69. The stock's 50 day moving average is $84.34 and its 200 day moving average is $61.45.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%.The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.

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