Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock to $340.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Western Digital traded as high as $294.24 and last traded at $273.1040, with a volume of 2330361 shares. The stock had previously closed at $270.23.

WDC has been the subject of several other research reports. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $135.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on Western Digital from $240.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Western Digital from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $306.00 target price on Western Digital in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price target on Western Digital from $115.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total transaction of $277,956.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,524.46. This represents a 31.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 1,768 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total transaction of $272,272.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,090. This represents a 33.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,816 shares of company stock worth $6,211,148. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board approved an additional $4 billion share repurchase program, signaling strong capital-return intent and likely supporting near-term demand for shares. Reuters: Western Digital adds $4 billion to buyback plan
• Positive Sentiment: Company held Innovation Day and unveiled an AI-focused storage roadmap (path to 100TB+ HDDs, UltraSMR adoption) and rebranded to “WD,” reinforcing its strategic role in AI data infrastructure. BusinessWire: Western Digital Accelerates Storage Innovation
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results and guidance confirm strong demand: solid Q2 revenue/EPS and the broader “memory supercycle” thesis (AI training & storage needs) that supports durable end-market growth for high-capacity HDDs. MarketBeat: The Memory Supercycle Is Here
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are raising targets and reiterating buys (examples: Mizuho and Rosenblatt with $340 PTs), adding upward pressure to sentiment and fueling momentum. The Fly: Price target raised at Mizuho
• Neutral Sentiment: SanDisk (spun off from WDC) is rallying dramatically, highlighting a broader memory-led rotation into AI hardware; that thematic lift helps WDC but also concentrates sector exposure and volatility risk. MarketBeat: Sandisk’s Swings Are Getting Bigger
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/policy pieces (U.S. push to secure critical-mineral supply chains) could be supportive for domestic supply stability over time but are not an immediate stock catalyst. MarketBeat: Trump administration pushes critical minerals plan
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares (~3.1% reduction in his disclosed position), a near-term negative signal that may have contributed to profit-taking despite his remaining large stake. SEC filing: Insider sale disclosure

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avion Wealth increased its stake in Western Digital by 163.8% in 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 in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 124.5% in the third 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. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% in the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Down 7.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $91.34 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $200.92 and its 200 day moving average is $141.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

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.