Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s share price rose 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $546.68 and last traded at $530.60. Approximately 6,244,201 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 9,004,520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $524.65.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary point to stronger-than-expected demand for storage tied to AI, cloud computing, and enterprise data needs, which supports continued earnings growth for Western Digital. Hard Disk Drives Are Critical for AI but Western Digital Stock Is Still Underappreciated Here
• Positive Sentiment: Broader sector momentum is helping WDC, with articles citing a structural memory shortage, tighter supply, and improved pricing power across the memory/storage complex. Micron’s $1 Trillion Memory Melt-Up (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Another note says analysts believe Western Digital could keep expanding earnings as demand strengthens while supply remains constrained, reinforcing the bullish case for the stock. With Analysts Calling for Western Digital to Double Earnings, the WDC Stock Rally Isn’t Over Yet
• Neutral Sentiment: WDC is drawing unusually heavy investor attention, with search interest and multiple articles focusing on whether the stock still has room to run after its strong move. Investors Heavily Search Western Digital Corporation (WDC): Here is What You Need to Know
• Negative Sentiment: One filing-style update noted that Western Digital insiders sold about $18 million of stock, which can sometimes be read as a cautionary signal even if it may simply reflect personal liquidity needs. Western Digital Insiders Sold US$18m Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus set a $300.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $405.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $310.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.50.

Western Digital Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $182.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.68 and a beta of 2.10. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $382.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.09.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total transaction of $2,743,105.88. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 107,794 shares in the company, valued at $29,137,796.14. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 53,347 shares of company stock worth $17,974,293. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 6.4% during the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 6,613 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,789,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. Summitry LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $231,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 241.8% during the first quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,595 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,595,000 after acquiring an additional 6,788 shares during the period. BankChampaign National Association acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $2,128,000. Finally, January Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $241,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.