Insider Selling: Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Insider Sells 432 Shares

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 432 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.20, for a total transaction of $194,918.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 111,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,096,736. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC traded up $9.84 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $477.30. The stock had a trading volume of 6,389,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,114,668. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $92.70 and a 12-month high of $799.87. The firm has a market cap of $164.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 2.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $499.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $449.44.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The firm’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WDC. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 price target on Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Western Digital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI demand supports long-term growth prospects. Rising data volumes from AI inference, agentic AI and other emerging workloads could increase demand for Western Digital’s data-storage products, offering a potential structural growth catalyst. AI Data Explosion: Can WDC Become a Bigger Storage Winner?
• Positive Sentiment: Strong free cash flow may support shareholder returns. Western Digital entered fiscal 2027 with improved cash generation and a net cash position. Continued free-cash-flow returns through buybacks and dividends may strengthen the investment case and help support the stock. Can Western Digital’s Strong FCF Sustain Buybacks and Dividends?
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital showed relative strength during a weaker market session. The stock gained while the overall market dipped, suggesting continued investor demand for the company’s earnings momentum and AI-related storage opportunity. Why the Market Dipped But Western Digital Gained Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention is elevated. Western Digital was among the stocks heavily searched by Zacks users, which can increase near-term trading interest but does not by itself indicate improving fundamentals or guarantee continued gains. Investors Heavily Search Western Digital Corporation

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 71.4% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 230,578 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $147,275,000 after purchasing an additional 96,078 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $193,303,000 after purchasing an additional 282,156 shares during the last quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,889,000. World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 145.8% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 5,950 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 3,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Win Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,233,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s 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.