Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Up 3.4% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) traded up 3.4% on Wednesday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $360.00 to $500.00. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Western Digital traded as high as $562.76 and last traded at $550.30. Approximately 6,818,683 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average daily volume of 9,142,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $532.10.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on WDC. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $502.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at $63,640,420.80. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and traders remain constructive on Western Digital’s AI storage demand story, pointing to upgraded price targets, repeated earnings beats, and strong revenue growth tied to the NAND/HDD upgrade cycle. Western Digital Stock (WDC) Opinions on Analyst Upgrades Amid AI Storage Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital has outperformed the storage industry over the past year, with shares up sharply on expectations that AI infrastructure and data-center storage demand will keep benefiting the business. WDC Stock Outshines Industry Returns in a Year: Should You Jump In?
• Positive Sentiment: Susquehanna raised its price target on WDC to $500 from $360, reinforcing the view that the stock still has upside despite recent volatility. Western Digital Stock Drops 8.5%: Why Samsung’s Profit Surge Triggered a Tech Selloff
• Neutral Sentiment: Some market commentary suggests the memory sector may be in a short-term reset rather than a fundamental breakdown, with tight supply and margin strength still supporting the industry outlook. Flash Crash or Cash? The AI Hardware Reset Investors Can’t Ignore (WDC)
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital was caught in a broader memory-chip selloff after Samsung’s results triggered profit-taking across the AI and storage trade, pressuring WDC alongside Micron and SanDisk. Micron, SanDisk, and Western Digital Sink 7% as Samsung Earnings Spark a Memory Selloff
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs recently downgraded WDC to Hold, and Susquehanna’s higher target still implied downside from the current share price in that note, adding to near-term caution. Western Digital (WDC) Gets a Hold from Goldman Sachs

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Western Digital Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $189.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.85 and a beta of 2.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $545.76 and its 200-day moving average is $365.92.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

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.