Western Digital Corporation $WDC Shares Acquired by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 234,245 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 61,166 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.07% of Western Digital worth $28,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 124.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 102.5% during the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 399 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 86.9% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 10.1%

Shares of WDC opened at $250.23 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $285.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $193.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $85.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.78.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 44.67% and a net margin of 35.52%.Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $200.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Benchmark upped their target price on Western Digital from $115.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Western Digital in a report on Friday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $193.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho set a $325.00 price target on Western Digital in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Western Digital from $165.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.95.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total value of $3,013,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 645,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,265,422.23. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total value of $277,956.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,863 shares in the company, valued at $596,524.46. The trade was a 31.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 26,816 shares of company stock worth $4,116,148 over 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: Q2 results beat and upbeat guidance — WDC reported $2.13 EPS vs. ~$1.93 consensus and revenue of $3.02B (+25% Y/Y); management guided Q3 well above Street estimates, citing strong demand from AI/data center customers. Western Digital Reports Fiscal Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts turn more bullish — several firms upped ratings/targets (Wells Fargo $335, Wedbush $325, TD Cowen to $325, Morgan Stanley, Citi maintain/raise Buy calls), reflecting expectations for sustained AI-led capacity demand and margin upside. Analyst Coverage & Price Target Changes
• Positive Sentiment: Management and CEO comments highlight AI-driven storage growth — CEO Irving Tan emphasized that AI inference is generating more data and requiring more storage, supporting ongoing demand for high‑capacity HDDs and flash. Western Digital CEO: AI inference is generating more data and requiring storage hence demand growth
• Positive Sentiment: Company to outline AI storage roadmap at Feb. 3 Innovation Day — investors have an upcoming event to get product/roadmap detail, which could provide further visibility on TAM and upside. Dear Western Digital Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for February 3
• Neutral Sentiment: Small quarterly dividend declared — WDC announced a $0.125 per‑share dividend (ex‑dividend Mar 5), a token yield that is unlikely to materially move the stock but may be noted by income investors.
• Negative Sentiment: Shares gave back gains after the initial rally — despite the beat and strong guide, intraday profit‑taking and repositioning pushed the stock down on elevated volume, suggesting some investors are booking gains after a rapid run. Western Digital Shares Give Up Gains After Earnings Beat, Strong Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Technical/positioning risks — some analysts and market pieces noted WDC was overbought ahead of results; after a big run to an all‑time high, elevated expectations increase the risk of short‑term pullbacks. Overbought Ahead of Earnings

About Western Digital

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.