Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $582.59, but opened at $551.66. Western Digital shares last traded at $541.8390, with a volume of 969,852 shares trading hands.
Key Western Digital News
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is heading into its upcoming quarterly earnings report with Wall Street expecting a triple-digit increase in profit, which could support the stock if results and guidance beat expectations. Western Digital’s Quarterly Earnings Preview: What You Need to Know
- Positive Sentiment: Recent analyst commentary has remained constructive on Western Digital’s AI-driven storage demand and tight HDD supply, reinforcing the longer-term bull case for the stock. Why Western Digital (WDC) Is Benefiting From AI-Driven Storage Demand and Tight HDD Supply Conditions
- Neutral Sentiment: Several market reports say Western Digital is being dragged lower in sympathy with other memory names, including Micron and SanDisk, after SK Hynix’s weak outlook sparked a sector-wide pullback. Why Is Western Digital Stock (WDC) Falling in Pre-Market Today, 7/13/26?
- Negative Sentiment: SK Hynix’s sharp drop and the broader memory-sector selloff are pressuring Western Digital shares, as investors worry weaker earnings forecasts could signal softer pricing and demand across the storage market. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Plunges 7% Amid SK Hynix Collapse and Memory Sector Turmoil
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
WDC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 target price on shares of Western Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Fox Advisors cut shares of Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.32.
Western Digital Trading Down 4.9%
The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $555.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $374.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.00 and a beta of 2.11.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. 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 $0.12. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.58%.
Insider Transactions at Western Digital
In related news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 598,150 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital
A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 163.8% in the fourth 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 period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, BOKF NA grew its stake in Western Digital by 6,700.0% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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.
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