Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $434.30 on Friday. Western Digital has a one year low of $73.14 and a one year high of $799.87. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $565.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $417.35. The company has a market capitalization of $149.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 18.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 3.58%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total value of $427,941.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 114,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,663,290.57. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,093 shares of company stock worth $2,751,337. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $3.75 billion, up about 44% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $3.56 per share—both ahead of Wall Street expectations. Growth was supported by AI-related cloud storage demand, stronger pricing, and higher-capacity hard-disk drives. Western Digital Q4 Earnings Beat as Revenue Jumps 44% on Cloud Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted strong visibility into AI-storage demand, with some customers negotiating capacity commitments through 2031. The company also expects continued margin expansion, while analysts remain broadly constructive; recent price targets include $630 from Baird and a $575 median across 15 analysts. Western Digital Says AI Customers Are Already Negotiating Storage Deals Through 2031
• Neutral Sentiment: The selloff is part of a broader rotation within semiconductor and memory stocks. Investors have been shifting toward AI networking leaders, while comparing Western Digital’s results with stronger results from rival Seagate Technology. Western Digital Slumps Despite Q2 Beat as Analysts Highlight Peer Seagate’s Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, payable September 17 to shareholders of record September 8. The dividend provides a modest shareholder return but is unlikely to drive the near-term trading reaction.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors viewed fiscal-first-quarter 2027 gross-margin guidance of 55%–56% as insufficiently strong after the stock’s dramatic advance and elevated expectations. Although the outlook implies sequential improvement, it trailed the bar set by Seagate and was interpreted as evidence that the recent margin expansion may be stabilizing. Western Digital Shares Fall as Margin Outlook Tempers Strong Q4 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking intensified because Western Digital had already rallied sharply on the AI-storage theme. The strong earnings beat therefore failed to exceed the market’s unusually high expectations, prompting a valuation reset and technical concerns around support levels. Sandisk, Western Digital Drag on Chip Stocks as Lofty Expectations Eclipse Strong Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Reported insider activity has been heavily tilted toward selling, with 129 sales and no purchases over the past six months. While such transactions may reflect diversification or compensation, the lack of insider buying adds to near-term investor caution.

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.