Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Falls 3% After Insider Selling

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shares were down 3% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $339.55 and last traded at $343.67. Approximately 13,818,178 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 59% from the average session volume of 8,690,267 shares. The stock had previously closed at $354.19.

Specifically, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total value of $306,660.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 108,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,392,640. This represents a 0.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WDC. Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $720.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Western Digital from $540.00 to $430.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $740.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $584.00.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal Q1 2027 adjusted EPS of $4.64 and revenue of $4.38 billion, beating consensus estimates of approximately $4.09–$4.11 and $4.14 billion, respectively. Revenue increased 55.5% year over year, supported by cloud demand, higher-capacity drives and improved pricing. Western Digital earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued substantially stronger-than-expected fiscal Q2 guidance, calling for revenue of $5.0 billion to $5.2 billion and adjusted EPS of $5.60 to $6.00. The outlook indicates that AI infrastructure and hyperscale data-center demand remain strong. Western Digital Q2 forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Free cash flow reached approximately $1.38 billion, while Western Digital raised its quarterly dividend 16.7% to $0.175 per share. JPMorgan also raised its price target to $650 and maintained an overweight rating. JPMorgan analyst update
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain bullish overall, but several firms lowered their price targets after earnings, including TD Cowen to $430, Rosenblatt to $650 and Cantor Fitzgerald to $625. These firms retained buy or overweight ratings, suggesting concern about valuation and execution rather than the immediate earnings outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are weighing rising capital expenditures, possible increases in industry supply and the eventual slowdown of HDD price growth. Questions about HAMR technology transitions and the sustainability of AI-driven demand are limiting the market’s response to the earnings beat. Western Digital capex and supply concerns
• Negative Sentiment: An insider sold 807 shares worth $306,660 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sale was small relative to the insider’s remaining holdings, but it added to short-term sentiment pressure. SEC insider filing

Western Digital Trading Down 3.0%

The stock has a market cap of $128.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 2.11. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $435.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $480.46.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.1750 per share. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 71.4% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 230,578 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $147,275,000 after purchasing an additional 96,078 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $19,694,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $14,466,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,599,000. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,307,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.