Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Down 3% – What’s Next?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s stock price fell 3% on Friday . The company traded as low as $442.78 and last traded at $447.18. 4,964,309 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 8,604,285 shares. The stock had previously closed at $460.93.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bullish analyst view remains intact: Citi reaffirmed a Buy rating and raised its price target to $740, citing AI-driven storage demand that is outpacing supply. Recent analyst targets include a median of $597.50, with several targets ranging from $650 to $900. Western Digital Buy Rating Reaffirmed
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamental support: Western Digital’s latest reported quarter showed 43.8% year-over-year revenue growth, earnings above consensus and first-quarter fiscal 2027 guidance of $3.85–$4.15 per share. Bullish commentary argues that the recent correction removed speculative excess without undermining the company’s longer-term compounding potential. Western Digital The Correction Priced Out The Froth
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data provides little signal: Reported short interest was zero shares, with a zero-day days-to-cover ratio, suggesting the data may be incomplete or unreliable rather than indicating meaningful short positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: DeepSeek-driven AI concerns pressured the sector: An apparent breakthrough in AI efficiency raised questions about how much computing and storage infrastructure future AI systems may require, contributing to a selloff across storage and semiconductor equities. Western Digital Stock Slips Friday
• Negative Sentiment: Macro and trading pressures added to the decline: Rising Treasury yields and higher oil prices hurt high-growth technology shares, while weakness in Micron and Seagate highlighted a broad memory and storage selloff. Recent insider filings also show substantial selling and no reported insider purchases, creating an additional near-term overhang. Western Digital Falls as Storage Stocks Slide

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six 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 a consensus target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Down 3.0%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $493.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $452.03. The firm has a market cap of $154.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.13.

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

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.48%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,650,465.80. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 25,437 shares of company stock valued at $11,461,345 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after buying an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Western Digital by 229.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) develops, manufactures and sells data storage products and solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises, businesses and consumers. Its portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs), including high-capacity enterprise drives used in cloud and data center environments, as well as products for network-attached storage, surveillance and personal computing.

The company markets products under brands including Western Digital, WD, WD_BLACK and Ultrastar.