Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) CEO Sells $8,236,800.00 in Stock

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were 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 owned 598,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Western Digital Stock Up 5.2%

NASDAQ WDC traded up $22.90 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $465.26. 9,668,011 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,379,323. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.49. The company has a market capitalization of $157.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 2.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $314.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.84. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $43.60 and a one year high of $480.11.

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 net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue 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. On average, analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Western Digital to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Mizuho set a $470.00 price target on Western Digital in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $335.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.83.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat, raised guidance and dividend increase are driving investor interest — analysts and outlets cite stronger AI-driven storage demand and margin momentum as the fundamental support for the rally. Western Digital (WDC) Valuation Check As Strong AI Storage Demand And Dividend Hike Lift Investor Interest
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts are raising targets after the Q3 beat (some very high), which is underpinning optimism and fresh buy ratings. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Surges as Analysts Set $660 Price Target Following Q3 Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Independent bullish calls and price-target lifts (24/7 Wall St. $513 target; Jim Cramer supportive commentary) add momentum and retail attention. AI Boom Drives Western Digital Toward $500 Target Jim Cramer Says ‘Overheated’ Storage Stocks Still Have Room To Run
• Neutral Sentiment: SanDisk’s post-spinoff surge (now approaching ~$200B market cap) is shifting sector headlines; that strengthens the memory market narrative but also diverts some investor focus away from WDC. Sandisk Spun Off From Western Digital Just Last Year. Now It’s a $200B Company. Sandisk Spun Off From Western Digital Just Last Year. Now It’s a $200B Company.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s investor presentations and conference appearances (Barclays transcript) are being used to reinforce the AI-storage story; useful for conviction but not new earnings. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) Presents at Barclays 18th Annual Americas Select Conference Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and momentum risk: the stock has run hard YTD and month-to-month, and some measured price-targets (e.g., Robert W. Baird’s $450) imply limited near-term upside from levels in recent trading — raises the chance of profit-taking. Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $450.00 at Robert W. Baird

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 0.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in 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 worth $1,023,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $346,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,982 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.