Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Down 6.9% – Should You Sell?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s stock price traded down 6.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $509.56 and last traded at $519.80. Approximately 4,722,849 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 8,930,697 shares. The stock had previously closed at $558.30.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Memory-chip peers such as Micron, Sandisk, and SK Hynix were reported surging on continued enthusiasm for AI infrastructure spending and tight memory supply, which can lift sentiment for Western Digital as well. Article: Why Micron, Sandisk, and SK Hynix Are Surging—And How to Play It
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted Western Digital’s AI storage exposure and relatively stronger financial footing versus peers like Super Micro, reinforcing the stock’s appeal as an AI hardware play. Article: WDC vs. SMCI: Which AI Hardware Stock is the Smarter Investment Now?
• Positive Sentiment: A valuation piece argued that Western Digital still looks attractive on earnings and especially cheap on a cash-flow basis, suggesting the recent rally may have room to continue if AI demand remains strong. Article: Western Digital (WDC) Stock Looks Reasonable On Earnings While Cash Flow Looks Cheap
• Neutral Sentiment: One report said Western Digital reentered merger-focused discussion, but it did not provide a concrete transaction update, so the near-term stock impact is unclear. Article: Western Digital (WDC) Reenters Merger Focus, Where Does Fair Value Sit?
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position reported, which does not appear to be a major driver of the stock today.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.32.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $179.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.03 and a beta of 2.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $564.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $397.06.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. Western Digital’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. Sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,959 shares of company stock valued at $12,631,666. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, BOKF NA increased its stake 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.