Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Down 4% – Here’s Why

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shares were down 4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $450.28 and last traded at $463.91. Approximately 7,127,581 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 9,342,841 shares. The stock had previously closed at $483.15.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are lifting price targets and reiterating buy calls as AI/data?center storage demand ramps, supporting upside expectations for revenue and margins. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Street upgrades and price?target increases (example: BofA raised its PT after Q3 results), reflecting upward revisions to earnings estimates and reinforcing momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Macro/industry supply tightness (memory shortages tied to AI) could support pricing and margins for NAND/SSD vendors, a tailwind for Western Digital’s product mix and near?term profitability. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate simplification — WDC has begun equity?for?equity exchanges to unwind its remaining SanDisk stake, a multi?step separation that could clarify valuations over time but may create short?term trading noise. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Momentum and visibility: WDC is being added to top momentum/“strong buy” lists (Zacks and others), increasing retail and quant interest but not changing fundamentals immediately. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Irving Tan executed a pre?arranged sale (20,000 shares) and other executives sold shares recently; while planned trades are common, they can prompt profit?taking and add near?term supply. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional insider reductions were reported (e.g., Vidyadhara Gubbi), and media coverage of executive sales may amplify short?term selling pressure. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. Truist Financial set a $310.00 target price on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $395.83.

Western Digital Trading Down 4.0%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $321.98 and a 200-day moving average of $239.79. The firm has a market cap of $159.90 billion, a PE ratio of 27.70, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.10.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.82 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,630.14. This represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total value of $2,743,105.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 107,794 shares in the company, valued at $29,137,796.14. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 60,459 shares of company stock worth $19,883,236 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 124.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.