Strs Ohio Decreases Stock Holdings in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• STRS Ohio trimmed its stake in Western Digital by 12.4%, selling 21,427 shares and leaving it with 151,850 shares valued at $26.16M, while institutional ownership remains very high at 92.51%.
• WDC beat Q3 estimates (EPS $2.72 vs. $2.39; revenue $3.34B), raised FY‑Q4 guidance to 3.100–3.400 EPS, and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.15 ($0.60 annualized).
• Company insiders sold 92,711 shares worth $24.3M over the quarter (insiders now own 0.18%), even as analysts broadly raised targets and sentiment turned positive.

Strs Ohio trimmed its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 151,850 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 21,427 shares during the period. Strs Ohio's holdings in Western Digital were worth $26,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $5,196,484,000 after buying an additional 243,177 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at $791,317,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Western Digital by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $456,884,000 after buying an additional 384,103 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Western Digital by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,804,907 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $456,737,000 after buying an additional 402,981 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 4,923.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $409,049,000 after buying an additional 3,339,225 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 news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total transaction of $2,501,349.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 121,682 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,643,630.14. This represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $9,616,638.18. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 92,711 shares of company stock worth $24,300,404 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC stock opened at $432.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $314.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.99. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $43.60 and a twelve month high of $446.62. The firm has a market cap of $146.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.79, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.10.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 49.24% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. The business's revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.99%.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: WDC beat expectations: Q3 EPS $2.72 and revenue $3.34B, both above consensus, and management raised FY‑Q4 guidance (EPS and revenue) — this underpins the bullish case for continued AI/cloud storage demand. Earnings & press materials
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades/target raises followed the quarter — Citi hiked its target to $500 (Buy) citing stronger visibility into AI-driven HDD demand, lifting investor optimism. Citi raises target to $500
• Positive Sentiment: Other firms (Rosenblatt, TD Cowen and others) boosted targets or reiterated Buy as AI/data‑center demand drives margin expansion and share‑buyback capacity; the company also announced a quarterly dividend increase, signalling confidence in cash flow.
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry signal — peers (SanDisk/Seagate) also reported strong results and demand commentary, confirming sector‑wide AI storage tailwinds but raising questions about how much of that is already priced in. Reuters: sector demand
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction was mixed — the stock slipped after the beat as some traders engaged in “buy the rumor, sell the news” profit‑taking following an enormous YTD run; elevated expectations mean strong results may not produce further immediate upside. Yahoo: stock falls despite beat
• Negative Sentiment: Not all analyst moves are bullish: UBS raised its target to $375 but kept a Neutral rating — that level implies downside from current prices and provides a near‑term anchor for traders focused on risk management. Benzinga: UBS target

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WDC. Argus set a $300.00 price target on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Western Digital from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Susquehanna restated a "neutral" rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Western Digital from $335.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $389.74.

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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