VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Takes $42.62 Million Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems acquired 66,733 Western Digital shares worth approximately $42.6 million, while institutional investors collectively own 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $3.56 EPS and $3.75 billion in revenue, with revenue up 43.8% year over year; management issued Q1 2027 EPS guidance of $3.85–$4.15.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including CEO Irving Tan’s $8.9 million transaction, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $534.56 versus the stock’s $467.46 opening price.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 66,733 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $42,624,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 229.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 55.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,210 shares of company stock worth $10,440,960. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $467.46 on Monday. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $91.43 and a 52 week high of $799.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 2.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $506.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $446.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

More Western Digital News

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WDC. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Summit Insights downgraded shares of Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $534.56.

Western Digital 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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