Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Down 6.9% on Insider Selling

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) fell 6.9% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $422.11 and last traded at $463.51. Approximately 10,245,858 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 15% from the average daily volume of 8,915,687 shares. The stock had previously closed at $497.92.

Specifically, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 114,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,663,290.57. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WDC shares. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price objective on Western Digital and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Fox Advisors cut Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.32.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital remains a key supplier of high-capacity hard drives for cloud providers. Rising AI workloads are increasing data-storage requirements, while tight supply is supporting pricing power, revenue growth and margins. 2 AI Stocks That Beat NVIDIA – and Could Soar Even Higher
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush raised its targets for Western Digital and Seagate, reinforcing the view that AI infrastructure spending and demand for storage capacity could remain strong. Morgan Stanley has also maintained a bullish outlook, with a reported $650 target, while other analyst targets remain substantially above current levels. Wedbush raises the bar for two AI storage stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital’s Aug. 5 earnings report is the next major catalyst. Investors will focus on gross margins, pricing, supply conditions and second-half guidance to determine whether AI demand is still translating into stronger profitability. The company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with $2.72 in EPS versus a $2.39 consensus and revenue of $3.34 billion.
• Negative Sentiment: The broader AI memory trade is under pressure. Concerns about a technology rotation, weaker risk appetite and new Chinese AI and memory competition—including the strong debut of ChangXin Memory Technologies—have triggered selling across Western Digital, Micron and SanDisk. CXMT’s Blockbuster IPO Hits MU, SNDK and WDC—Is the Memory Rally at Risk?
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital has fallen roughly 40% from its June peak, and investors are questioning whether elevated valuations have outpaced fundamentals. Even after the pullback, the stock trades at a premium, leaving little room for disappointing margins or softer pricing commentary. Western Digital’s Earnings Will Test Whether Its AI Rally Has More Room
• Negative Sentiment: An insider sold 808 shares for approximately $428,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sale was small relative to the insider’s remaining stake and is unlikely to be a major fundamental concern, but it adds modestly to near-term caution. SEC insider transaction filing

Western Digital Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $565.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $400.49. The company has a market capitalization of $159.76 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS 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 company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly 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. Equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 28.6% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.0% during the second quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.8% during the second quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% in the second quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.