Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $529.92 and last traded at $524.24, with a volume of 1949230 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $484.28.
Key Western Digital News
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from a sharp sector-wide rally in memory and storage stocks, with investors repricing the AI memory trade higher after Micron’s surge. Not Just Micron: Memory Melt-Up Pulls SanDisk Up 8%, Western Digital Up 10%
- Positive Sentiment: The company recently highlighted post-quantum cryptography in its high-capacity Ultrastar UltraSMR hard drives, reinforcing its role in next-generation AI infrastructure and data center storage. Is Western Digital (WDC) the Best Performing Data Center Stocks So Far in 2026?
- Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage commentary remains constructive overall, with media coverage noting that analysts’ average recommendation is favorable, though such ratings have been mixed in their predictive value. Brokers Suggest Investing in Western Digital (WDC): Read This Before Placing a Bet
- Negative Sentiment: One recent report noted insider selling of Western Digital shares, which can sometimes weigh on investor sentiment even if the dollar amount is modest. Insider Selling: Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Insider Sells $48,640.22 in Stock
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts have commented on WDC shares. Truist Financial set a $310.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $335.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Western Digital to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, New Street Research set a $250.00 price target on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $406.42.
Western Digital Price Performance
The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $377.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $271.52. The company has a market capitalization of $181.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.49 and a beta of 2.10.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.99%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total value of $2,071,470.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 53,347 shares of company stock valued at $17,974,293 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 7.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Western Digital by 55.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is 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.
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