Western Digital Corporation $WDC Stake Cut by California State Teachers Retirement System

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its Western Digital stake by 3.7%, selling 20,088 shares and retaining 524,436 shares valued at approximately $141.9 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 92.51% of the company.
• Western Digital reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $2.72 per share and revenue of $3.34 billion, exceeding analyst estimates; revenue increased 45.5% year over year. AI-driven data-center demand, tight supply and pricing power remain key growth drivers.
• The stock opened at $463.51, below its 50-day moving average of $565.84 but above its 200-day average of $402.35. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $520.32, while the upcoming August 5 earnings report is expected to be a major catalyst.

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 524,436 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 20,088 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.15% of Western Digital worth $141,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its stake in Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $221,800,000. National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 267.6% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,691,659 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $291,422,000 after buying an additional 1,231,477 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $512,107,000 after buying an additional 1,228,661 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $463.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $159.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $69.30 and a one year high of $799.87. The company's fifty day moving average price is $565.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $402.35.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total value of $427,941.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 114,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,663,290.57. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 29,767 shares of company stock valued at $13,059,607 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure remains a major long-term growth driver. Western Digital supplies high-capacity hard drives used by cloud providers, and rising AI-generated data is supporting strong demand, tight supply and pricing power. 2 AI Stocks That Beat NVIDIA - and Could Soar Even Higher
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush raised its price targets for Western Digital and Seagate ahead of earnings, while other analysts remain bullish. Morgan Stanley reportedly set a $650 target and Citigroup maintained an $800 target, suggesting analysts view the selloff as potentially excessive if demand and margins remain strong. Seagate and Western Digital in Focus as Wedbush Raises Price Targets
• Positive Sentiment: Investment commentary highlighted Western Digital’s strong hard-drive demand and tighter supply, reinforcing the company’s improving revenue, margins and cash-generation outlook. Western Digital Surged on Strong Hard Drive Demand and Tighter Supply
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital’s Aug. 5 earnings report is the next major catalyst. Investors will focus on gross margins, pricing, supply conditions and guidance to determine whether AI demand is still translating into higher profitability. Western Digital’s Earnings Will Test Whether Its AI Rally Has More Room
• Negative Sentiment: The broader AI memory trade is unwinding, with investors reducing exposure to chip and storage companies amid a shaky risk appetite and expectations that market volatility could persist. Western Digital has also retreated substantially from its June peak, increasing concern that valuation expectations had moved too far ahead of fundamentals. The AI Memory Trade Is Crumbling
• Negative Sentiment: China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies’ highly successful IPO and advances in Chinese AI technology are raising concerns about future competition and whether the current memory and storage supply shortage can persist. CXMT’s Blockbuster IPO Hits Memory Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares worth approximately $428,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transaction was small relative to her remaining holdings, so it is a limited but slightly negative sentiment signal.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 target price on Western Digital and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Fox Advisors downgraded Western Digital from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $520.32.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WDC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report).

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.