Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

Key Points

• New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its Western Digital stake by 1.0% in the first quarter, selling 2,852 shares and ending with 285,549 shares valued at about $77.2 million.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: recent notes included price target increases from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Mizuho, and Morgan Stanley, while Melius Research upgraded the stock to strong-buy. Western Digital now carries a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.
• The company posted a strong latest quarter, with EPS of $2.72 beating estimates and revenue of $3.34 billion topping forecasts; it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share. However, the stock has been volatile, falling 9.9% amid a broader memory-chip selloff.

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 285,549 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 2,852 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.08% of Western Digital worth $77,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. BOKF NA lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% during the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth about $33,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on Western Digital to $732 from $610 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling confidence in further upside. Benzinga report on Bank of America price target hike
• Positive Sentiment: Melius Research upgraded Western Digital to strong-buy, adding to the list of bullish analyst views on the stock. Zacks report on Melius upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks said Western Digital has an impressive earnings surprise record and the right setup to potentially beat estimates again in its next quarterly report. Article: Will Western Digital (WDC) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was included in Zacks’ list of top momentum stocks for Q3 2026, reflecting continued investor interest in AI-driven storage names. Article: 5 Top-Ranked Momentum Stock Picks for Q3 2026 After a Fabulous Q2
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are revisiting fair value estimates as they reassess AI storage demand, HDD pricing, and Western Digital’s product roadmap, keeping the valuation debate active. Article: Western Digital Stock Gets Fair Value Boost As Analysts Reassess AI Storage Demand
• Negative Sentiment: WDC was hit by a broader memory-chip and semiconductor pullback, as investors rotated out of some of this year’s hottest names. Article: Micron Drops 8%, SanDisk Slumps 10%, Western Digital Falls 7% as Memory Stocks Pull Back With the Nasdaq

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WDC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Western Digital from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Western Digital from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $493.52.

Western Digital Stock Down 9.9%

WDC opened at $539.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $185.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $63.67 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87. The company's 50-day moving average price is $536.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $357.93.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. Western Digital's revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at $63,640,420.80. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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