Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Insider Cynthia Tregillis Sells 308 Shares

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.61, for a total value of $150,491.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 118,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,721,942.35. This trade represents a 0.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $530.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.68 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $51.17 and a 12 month high of $546.68. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $387.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $276.68.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business’s revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.99%.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Shares are benefiting from a strong sector-wide “memory melt-up,” with AI infrastructure demand supporting higher pricing power and improving earnings expectations for storage makers like Western Digital. Not Just Micron: Memory Melt-Up Pulls SanDisk Up 8%, Western Digital Up 10%
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore reportedly raised its price target on Western Digital to $575, calling the stock “underappreciated” as hard disk drives remain critical for AI data-center buildouts. Hard Disk Drives Are Critical for AI but Western Digital Stock Is Still Underappreciated Here
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlights Western Digital as a key beneficiary of the AI memory/storage supercycle, with investors searching the name more heavily after strong momentum in peers like Micron and SanDisk. Micron’s $1 Trillion Memory Melt-Up
• Neutral Sentiment: An insider sale by Cynthia L. Tregillis was disclosed, but it was small relative to her holdings and was made under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plan, so it is unlikely to be a major negative signal for investors. SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Another insider sale was also reported the same day, adding to activity that may look cautious, but the transactions appear routine rather than clearly bearish. SEC filing

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Western Digital from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.50.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at $791,317,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $788,729,000. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 4,923.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at $221,800,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.