Western Digital Corporation (WDC) – What Are Investment Firms Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $608.26.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $650.00 to $615.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $525.00 to $470.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,052,185.77. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. 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 sold 25,437 shares of company stock worth $11,461,345. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,602,927,000. ABS Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,226,342,000. Anther Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $901,601,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $885,565,000. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $627,606,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $332.00 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $442.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $478.41. The firm has a market cap of $124.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $117.23 and a 52 week high of $799.87.

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

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo analysts said the recent selloff in Western Digital and Seagate has been “well overdone” and remained broadly bullish, providing some support for the long-term outlook. Seagate and Western Digital Stocks Fall on Toshiba Fears
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital expects fiscal first-quarter revenue to increase about 45%, driven by strong AI infrastructure and cloud-storage demand. Its prior quarter exceeded analyst expectations for both revenue and earnings, while management’s fiscal 2027 EPS guidance remains solid. Western Digital Pre-Q1 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are waiting for the October 22 earnings report to determine whether accelerating AI and hyperscaler demand can support current earnings estimates and justify the stock’s valuation. Western Digital Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo reduced its price target for Western Digital, adding to bearish headlines even though the firm reportedly maintained a constructive view. The cuts have intensified concerns that expectations for the AI trade had become excessive. Friday’s First Moves
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are concerned that Toshiba’s planned hard-disk-drive capacity expansion could increase future supply and pricing pressure. Rising interest-rate risks and questions about whether roughly $1 trillion of hyperscaler capital spending can continue are also weighing on storage stocks. Seagate and Western Digital Face Supply Risks
• Negative Sentiment: A broader technology and memory-stock selloff, concerns about Chinese competition in server memory, and analyst commentary describing Western Digital as potentially near a cyclical peak have prompted investors to lock in gains after its substantial advance. Memory Stocks Extend Selloff on China Competition Fears

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.