Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Climb 2.6% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) were up 2.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $359.98 and last traded at $347.35. 5,321,057 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 8,655,580 shares. The stock had previously closed at $338.59.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: WDC raised its quarterly dividend nearly 17% to $0.175 per share. The increase follows strong fiscal first-quarter results, including 55% revenue growth and a 161% rise in adjusted earnings, and signals confidence in cash generation. This Data Center and Storage Stock Just Raised Its Dividend by Nearly 17%
• Positive Sentiment: WDC shares joined a rebound in memory stocks, recovering some of the pressure from the prior session’s selloff after Kioxia issued a cautious outlook. The move suggests sector sentiment improved, though remains volatile. Memory stocks rebound
• Neutral Sentiment: Cloud storage accounted for 88% of WDC revenue, with cloud sales up 54%. Strong data-center demand is a growth driver, but the high concentration also leaves results exposed to spending shifts by cloud customers. Western Digital’s 88% Cloud Revenue Share
• Neutral Sentiment: A WDC director sold 18.7% of his stake under a preset trading plan. The planned nature of the sale makes it less conclusive as a signal about the company’s outlook. Western Digital director sells stake under preset plan
• Negative Sentiment: Jim Cramer reportedly preferred Micron over WDC, and analysts see tight AI-memory supply extending through 2028. That comparison could weigh on WDC sentiment, while Kioxia’s cautious forecast has highlighted the risk of a broader memory-sector pullback. Micron vs. Western Digital

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Western Digital from $730.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Western Digital from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Western Digital from $590.00 to $770.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho set a $490.00 target price on Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.04.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.6%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $419.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $417.37. The firm has a market cap of $130.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 55.62% and a net margin of 69.20%. Western Digital’s revenue was up 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 23.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.1750 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 2.72%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the sale, the insider owned 80,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,052,185.77. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,436 shares of company stock worth $11,340,064. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $1,602,927,000. ABS Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,226,342,000. Anther Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $901,601,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $885,565,000. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $627,606,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.