Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s share price was up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $546.68 and last traded at $530.60. Approximately 6,244,201 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 9,004,520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $524.65.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary point to stronger-than-expected demand for storage tied to AI, cloud computing, and enterprise data needs, which supports continued earnings growth for Western Digital. Hard Disk Drives Are Critical for AI but Western Digital Stock Is Still Underappreciated Here
• Positive Sentiment: Broader sector momentum is helping WDC, with articles citing a structural memory shortage, tighter supply, and improved pricing power across the memory/storage complex. Micron’s $1 Trillion Memory Melt-Up (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Another note says analysts believe Western Digital could keep expanding earnings as demand strengthens while supply remains constrained, reinforcing the bullish case for the stock. With Analysts Calling for Western Digital to Double Earnings, the WDC Stock Rally Isn’t Over Yet
• Neutral Sentiment: WDC is drawing unusually heavy investor attention, with search interest and multiple articles focusing on whether the stock still has room to run after its strong move. Investors Heavily Search Western Digital Corporation (WDC): Here is What You Need to Know
• Negative Sentiment: One filing-style update noted that Western Digital insiders sold about $18 million of stock, which can sometimes be read as a cautionary signal even if it may simply reflect personal liquidity needs. Western Digital Insiders Sold US$18m Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WDC. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Western Digital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $335.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.50.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.1%

The stock has a market cap of $182.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.68 and a beta of 2.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $382.53 and its 200 day moving average is $274.09.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.87, for a total value of $48,640.22. Following the sale, the insider owned 118,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,349,939.41. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares in the company, valued at $39,905,270.79. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 53,347 shares of company stock valued at $17,974,293 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WDC. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 9.2% during the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 33.3% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 132 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,707 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $811,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.1% during the first quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 3,782 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Quadcap Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.