Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Upgraded by Melius Research to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Melius Research upgraded shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on WDC. Weiss Ratings downgraded Western Digital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $484.04.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC stock opened at $638.72 on Monday. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $62.94 and a 1 year high of $799.87. The company has a market cap of $220.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.13 and a beta of 2.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $529.13 and a 200 day moving average of $352.48.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total transaction of $235,699.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its position in Western Digital by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in Western Digital during the first quarter worth $32,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, BOKF NA raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Melius Research initiated coverage of Western Digital with a Buy rating and a price target implying significant upside, boosting investor confidence in the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted about 55% upside for Western Digital and noted bullish options flow, with call buying outpacing put buying, suggesting traders are positioning for further gains. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital has been screening as a top momentum name in AI infrastructure, helped by strong earnings trends and continued demand tied to storage needs. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent market commentary says Western Digital remains in a strong bullish trend and is trading well above its 200-day moving average, which supports the stock technically but does not add a major new catalyst. Article Title

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.