Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Up 2.1% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) traded up 2.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $489.20 and last traded at $477.30. 6,303,940 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 8,673,495 shares. The stock had previously closed at $467.46.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong free cash flow supports buybacks and dividends. Western Digital entered fiscal 2027 with stronger cash generation and a net cash position, helping support continued capital returns to shareholders. This improves the stock’s income and valuation appeal while signaling balance-sheet strength. Can Western Digital’s Strong FCF Sustain Buybacks and Dividends?
• Positive Sentiment: AI is creating a potentially significant storage tailwind. Growth in AI inference, agentic AI and other data-intensive workloads could drive sustained demand for Western Digital’s storage products. Investors are evaluating whether the company can capture a larger share of this expanding market. AI Data Explosion: Can WDC Become a Bigger Storage Winner?
• Positive Sentiment: Recent operating momentum reinforces the bullish narrative. Western Digital’s latest reported results exceeded earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue up sharply year over year. Management’s fiscal 2027 first-quarter EPS outlook also points to continued earnings strength.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention has increased. Western Digital has recently ranked among the most-searched stocks on Zacks, which may be contributing to trading interest, although search activity alone does not establish a fundamental change in the company’s outlook. Investors Heavily Search Western Digital Corporation

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on WDC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price target on Western Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered Western Digital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.1%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $502.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $448.16. The company has a market cap of $164.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The firm’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 23,210 shares of company stock valued at $10,440,960 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 64,424.3% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 338,388,746 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $216,135,660,000 after purchasing an additional 337,864,310 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its position in Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,602,927,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth about $221,800,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.