Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Insider Sells 235 Shares

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 235 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $112,158.45. Following the sale, the insider owned 113,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,374,416.56. This represents a 0.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a 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.

Western Digital Trading Down 5.2%

Shares of WDC traded down $24.06 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $435.38. The stock had a trading volume of 7,761,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,879,776. The firm has a market cap of $150.07 billion, a PE ratio of 17.98 and a beta of 2.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $552.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $434.46. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $76.70 and a one year high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. Western Digital’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 2.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $534.56.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 64,424.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 338,388,746 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $216,135,660,000 after purchasing an additional 337,864,310 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $456,884,000 after buying an additional 384,103 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $512,107,000 after buying an additional 1,228,661 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s latest quarter showed strong momentum: revenue increased approximately 44% year over year, earnings exceeded expectations, and margins improved. Investors are now focused on the company’s fiscal 2027 product ramp, including planned 40TB drives and HAMR technology. WDC’s Strong Q4 Raises the Stakes for Its Fiscal 2027 Product Ramp
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand remains a long-term growth driver for Western Digital, with analysts highlighting accelerating earnings and expanding storage requirements in data centers. Some commentary views the recent pullback as a potential opportunity, although expectations are high. WDC Fell 11.6% in the Past Month
• Neutral Sentiment: Management will participate in Citi’s 2026 Global TMT Conference on September 9. The webcast could provide updates on demand, fiscal 2027 execution and product launches, but the event is not an immediate earnings catalyst. WD to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conference
• Negative Sentiment: The primary pressure came from reports that Washington may allow Apple to source memory chips from Chinese suppliers. The possibility raised concerns about increased competition and weaker demand for established memory suppliers, weighing on Western Digital and other sector stocks. Memory Stocks Slide on Report Apple May Source Chinese Chips
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking and valuation concerns are adding to the weakness. Although growth is accelerating, Western Digital trades at a premium after a substantial rally, leaving less room for execution missteps and increasing sensitivity to concerns about AI-related overinvestment, cyclicality and concentration among large cloud customers. Is WDC Still a Buy as Growth Surges but Valuation Stays Expensive?

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.