Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Up 4.4% – Still a Buy?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shares traded up 4.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $516.35 and last traded at $508.80. 9,852,246 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 10% from the average daily volume of 8,933,262 shares. The stock had previously closed at $487.29.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Sector rally supports WDC. SanDisk’s bullish long-term growth targets, including expectations for sustained flash-memory demand, boosted sentiment toward storage companies. Western Digital benefited from the read-through, particularly as investors anticipate continued AI infrastructure spending on HDD and NAND storage. SanDisk outlook article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and quantitative signals improved. Zacks upgraded Western Digital to Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” citing improving earnings prospects. WDC was also included among Zacks’ top momentum stocks, while JPMorgan reportedly raised its price target to $650. Zacks upgrade article
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results provide fundamental support. Western Digital’s latest quarter exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, with revenue rising 43.8% year over year. Stronger pricing, high-capacity drive demand and AI-driven storage requirements are supporting expectations for continued growth. WDC sector rally article
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning is mixed: JPMorgan and Capital World Investors added shares, while several large investors reduced holdings. The conflicting activity does not establish a clear institutional trend.
• Negative Sentiment: Elevated expectations remain a risk. Despite the earnings beat, WDC shares previously fell sharply because management’s guidance did not exceed demanding investor expectations. Concerns remain about moderating sequential growth, NAND pricing volatility and whether the AI-driven storage cycle has peaked. WDC earnings reaction article
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling may weigh on sentiment. CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares for approximately $8.9 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Broader data shows substantial insider selling and no reported insider purchases during the past six months. CEO insider sale article

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 target price on Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Summit Insights lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Melius Research set a $1,050.00 target price on Western Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Up 4.4%

The stock has a market cap of $175.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 2.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $556.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.88.

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. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total value of $427,941.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 114,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,663,290.57. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,093 shares of company stock worth $11,650,737. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by 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.