California Public Employees Retirement System Has $34.98 Million Position in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 546,613 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after buying an additional 158,823 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.16% of Western Digital worth $34,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 32.1% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 128,372 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $8,215,000 after acquiring an additional 31,205 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. CMT Capital Markets Trading GmbH bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $270,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth approximately $292,000. Finally, Diametric Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,791,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Trading Up 7.3%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $181.95 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $62.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $145.10 and a 200-day moving average of $99.59. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.83 and a 12-month high of $182.47.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 30.89% and a net margin of 21.37%.The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 7.28%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $596,524.46. The trade was a 31.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 2,801 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.57, for a total transaction of $449,756.57. Following the sale, the insider owned 144,596 shares in the company, valued at $23,217,779.72. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,369 shares of company stock valued at $4,013,785. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Western Digital from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.70.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.