Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $433.2917.

WDC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price objective on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd.

Western Digital Trading Down 5.3%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $490.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.26 and a beta of 2.13. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $54.60 and a twelve month high of $602.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $436.75 and a 200 day moving average of $303.37.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Western Digital will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at $63,640,420.80. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 85,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,366,060.96. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter worth approximately $34,244,000. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. grew its position in Western Digital by 399.8% in the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,900,000 after acquiring an additional 25,987 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 75.4% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 4,068 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,270,000. Finally, WESPAC Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $793,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho reiterated a bullish view on Western Digital, saying AI-driven storage demand continues to show no signs of slowing, which supports the long-term revenue outlook for the company. Mizuho doubles down on WDC stock as AI storage demand shows no signs of slowing down
• Positive Sentiment: Citi also remained bullish on Western Digital, suggesting analysts still see upside potential despite the stock’s recent volatility. Citi Remains Bullish on Western Digital Corporation (WDC) – Here’s Why
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital has been receiving elevated investor attention, with multiple articles noting that WDC is a trending stock and worth watching, but these pieces do not point to a specific new catalyst. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Neutral Sentiment: One market commentary said WDC could deserve attention, reflecting continued interest in the stock rather than a clear operational update. Here's Why We Think Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Might Deserve Your Attention Today
• Negative Sentiment: WDC fell more sharply than the broader market in the latest session, as memory and storage names came under pressure alongside peers such as Micron, indicating sector-wide risk-off sentiment was a key driver of the decline. Western Digital (WDC) Falls More Steeply Than Broader Market: What Investors Need to Know
• Negative Sentiment: Broader semiconductor and memory stocks sold off after geopolitical headlines raised macro uncertainty, and Western Digital was caught up in that move. Skyworks Solutions, Western Digital, and Teradyne Shares Are Falling, What You Need To Know

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.