Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $177.50.

A number of research firms recently commented on WDC. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $125.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $200.46 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $68.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.78. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $221.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $169.97 and its 200 day moving average is $119.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 30.89% and a net margin of 21.37%.The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. Western Digital has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.730-2.030 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 4th. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 1,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value of $272,272.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,090. The trade was a 33.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total value of $277,956.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,524.46. The trade was a 31.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 26,369 shares of company stock valued at $4,013,785. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,196,484,000 after acquiring an additional 243,177 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,305,289 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $593,045,000 after purchasing an additional 186,030 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter worth approximately $791,317,000. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 8.5% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 5,535,972 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $354,247,000 after purchasing an additional 431,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $456,884,000 after buying an additional 384,103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Intraday institutional order‑flow bullish signal (Power Inflow) triggered near $187.86, drawing buying interest and helping reverse an early pullback. Western Digital Shares Rise 5% After Key Trading Signal
• Positive Sentiment: Higher‑capacity HDDs and hyperscaler demand are cited as the main drivers of revenue growth and outlook improvement, supporting the firm’s core enterprise storage business and margins. Higher Capacity HDDs Drive Western Digital’s Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Momentum: coverage notes WDC has risen more than 9% YTD and enjoyed very strong gains in 2025, which can attract momentum and growth‑oriented flows. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) Has Risen More Than 9% Since the Start of 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/earnings setup: previews point to double‑digit EPS growth expectations ahead of Western Digital’s Q2 report, which reinforces the fundamental case for the rally. Western Digital Earnings Preview: What to Expect
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually high options volume indicates elevated short‑term interest and positioning; could amplify intraday moves but is ambiguous on direction unless one can see call/put skew. Western Digital Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:WDC)
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer SSD branding updates (WD Black/Blue → SanDisk Optimus collection) are product‑level news that support retail visibility but are unlikely to materially change near‑term enterprise revenue. WD Black and WD Blue gaming SSDs have transformed into the Sandisk Optimus Collection
• Negative Sentiment: Sector froth/risk: commentary on memory and chip stocks running hot raises the risk of an overheated trade and mean‑reversion if macro or AI demand narratives slow. That poses short‑term downside if momentum reverses. Memory Chip Stocks are Red-Hot. Is it Too Late to Buy?

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.