Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $500.00 at Susquehanna

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its target price raised by Susquehanna from $360.00 to $500.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $502.12.

Western Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ WDC opened at $550.30 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $189.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.85 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $64.16 and a 52-week high of $799.87. The company has a fifty day moving average of $548.75 and a 200-day moving average of $368.57.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The company’s revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. The trade was a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $456,884,000 after purchasing an additional 384,103 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 4,923.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $409,049,000 after buying an additional 3,339,225 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its position in Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $512,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228,661 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Research chatter turned more constructive after Melius Research was reported as bullish on Western Digital, reinforcing the view that the company is a beneficiary of AI storage demand. Melius Research is Bullish on Western Digital Corporation (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted strong fundamentals and valuation support, including comments that WDC looks inexpensive on cash flow, has beaten earnings recently, and continues to benefit from rising AI-related storage demand. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Looks Cheap On Cash Flow But Rich On Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst expectations remain generally favorable, with multiple firms maintaining buy or outperform ratings and recent price targets clustered above current levels, including a fresh upgrade in target from Susquehanna. Western Digital had its price target raised by Susquehanna
• Neutral Sentiment: Market-wide headlines about the Nasdaq, Fed minutes, and broader tech rotation are adding noise to trading, but these are not specific to Western Digital’s fundamentals. Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Swings To Score A Win; Fed Minutes Show Split On Direction
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors are still wary after the recent memory-chip selloff tied to Samsung results, which pressured WDC and peers earlier in the week and could keep sentiment choppy. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Western Digital Corporation (WDC) is a Trending Stock

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.