Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Down 4.6% – Here’s Why

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s stock price traded down 4.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $532.16 and last traded at $555.55. Approximately 4,741,969 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 9,052,958 shares. The stock had previously closed at $582.59.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Western Digital, citing strong AI-driven storage demand and tight hard-disk-drive supply conditions; one note reiterated an Overweight rating and lifted its price target to $650. Why Western Digital (WDC) Is Benefiting From AI-Driven Storage Demand and Tight HDD Supply Conditions
• Positive Sentiment: Another report said analysts are betting Western Digital can gain further from here because demand remains strong, which supports the longer-term bull case. Why Analysts Are Betting Western Digital Stock Can Gain Another 30% from Here
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital is also approaching its next earnings report, and Wall Street is expecting a large year-over-year profit increase, which could become a major catalyst if results and guidance impress. Western Digital’s Quarterly Earnings Preview: What You Need to Know
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term trading is being pressured by a sector-wide memory-chip selloff after SK Hynix warned on profits and its shares reversed sharply, dragging Micron, SanDisk, and Western Digital lower in sympathy. Western Digital Stock Drops: Why an Aggressive SK Hynix Reversal Is Shaking Up the Chip Sector
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market headlines also point to weakness in global chip stocks and AI-related names, adding to pressure on Western Digital shares. SK Hynix’s record plunge drags down global chip stocks

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.32.

Western Digital Stock Down 4.7%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $555.90 and its 200 day moving average is $374.22. The company has a market cap of $191.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.16 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. Western Digital’s revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 399.8% in the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,900,000 after purchasing an additional 25,987 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 75.4% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after buying an additional 4,068 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,270,000. WESPAC Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $793,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $193,303,000 after purchasing an additional 282,156 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.