Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) traded up 3.4% on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $366.00 and last traded at $364.32. 8,309,409 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 8,638,048 shares. The stock had previously closed at $352.21.
More Western Digital News
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley said it expects Western Digital to deliver strong quarterly results and better-than-expected guidance. Although the firm lowered its price target to $643 from $676, the new target still implies substantial upside from recent trading levels. Seagate, Western Digital stocks gain as this analyst sees 80% upside
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley described itself as an “aggressive buyer” of Western Digital and Seagate ahead of earnings, arguing that recent selling pressure related to AI financing concerns and competition may have been excessive. Seagate and Western Digital Stocks Sank Last Week
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital participated in a broader rebound among AI-related stocks after a sharp technology-sector selloff. Investors may be positioning ahead of the company’s fiscal first-quarter results, scheduled for late Thursday. Sandisk, Datadog, Amazon Lead S&P 500 As AI Stocks Rebound
- Positive Sentiment: Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital to “Strong Buy,” adding to the bullish analyst sentiment surrounding the stock. Wall Street Zen Upgrades Western Digital
- Neutral Sentiment: This week’s technology earnings are viewed as an important test of whether AI-related capital spending and demand remain strong. Western Digital’s results and forward guidance could therefore produce heightened volatility for WDC and the broader storage group. This Week’s Tech Earnings Could Be a Validation Moment for the AI Trade
- Negative Sentiment: Jim Cramer warned that Western Digital could be especially vulnerable if data-center capacity expansion or AI infrastructure spending slows. The concern is amplified by the stock’s large gains over the year and the possibility that profit expectations already reflect strong demand. Cramer warns SanDisk and Western Digital are worst stocks if data center capacity shrinks
- Negative Sentiment: Despite the recent rebound, WDC remains below its major moving averages after a steep prior-week decline, indicating that technical momentum is still weak and investor confidence remains fragile. Sandisk, Datadog, Amazon Lead S&P 500 As AI Stocks Rebound
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
WDC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Western Digital from $730.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Melius Research set a $1,050.00 target price on shares of Western Digital and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $607.04.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on WDC
Western Digital Stock Performance
The stock has a market cap of $136.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 2.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $441.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $478.99.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.
Western Digital Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.48%.
Insider Activity
In other news, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total value of $825,466.65. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,052,185.77. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 432 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.20, for a total transaction of $194,918.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 111,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,096,736. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,629 shares of company stock worth $11,033,404. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group raised its stake in Western Digital by 196.3% during the third quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 2,723 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after buying an additional 1,804 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 6.6% during the third quarter. Eagle Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 778 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 4.2% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 76,193 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $34,627,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 9.2% in the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 27,011 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $12,275,000 after acquiring an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.
About Western Digital
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.
The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.
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