Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $508.32.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WDC shares. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, 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 note on Monday, May 4th.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $582.59 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $200.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.78 and a beta of 2.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $555.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $374.22. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $64.23 and a 1 year high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Western Digital will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 3.58%.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more bullish on Western Digital, with reports highlighting strong AI storage demand and multiple price-target hikes, including Susquehanna’s increase to $500 and broader Wall Street optimism. Seagate Stock Rises After Analyst Upgrades To Buy. Western Digital Nabs Price-Target Hike.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent articles say WDC is benefiting from a rebound in memory and storage stocks as investors regain confidence in AI infrastructure spending and storage demand. Western Digital and Seagate Surge 7%, Micron and SanDisk Climb 6% as Memory Selloff Reverses
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks and other commentary continue to frame Western Digital as an AI infrastructure winner, citing strong revenue growth, margin expansion, and an improved outlook for future earnings. Micron & One AI Infrastructure Stock to Buy Now for Big Upside
• Neutral Sentiment: One item flagged an apparent short-interest update showing zero shares reported, but the data appears unusual and is unlikely to be a meaningful trading signal on its own.
• Negative Sentiment: Some valuation-focused commentary suggests the stock may be getting expensive on earnings metrics even after its strong run, which could limit upside if growth expectations cool. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Looks Cheap On Cash Flow But Rich On Earnings

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was 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 owned 598,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 28.6% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Western Digital

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.