Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock: Insider Cynthia Tregillis Sells 807 Shares

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total transaction of $306,660.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 108,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,392,640. This represents a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $343.67 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $432.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $479.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $121.85 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 69.20% and a return on equity of 56.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.1750 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 2.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on Western Digital from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $668.00 target price on Western Digital in a report on Friday. Zacks Research cut Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Western Digital from $900.00 to $625.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $584.00.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal Q1 2027 adjusted EPS of $4.64, above the roughly $4.09–$4.11 consensus, while revenue rose 55.5% year over year to $4.38 billion. Growth was driven by strong cloud and data-center demand, higher-capacity drives and improved pricing. Western Digital Q1 earnings and revenues beat estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued substantially stronger-than-expected fiscal Q2 guidance, calling for revenue of approximately $5.0 billion to $5.2 billion and adjusted EPS of $5.60 to $6.00, versus consensus estimates near $4.5 billion and $4.72, respectively. Western Digital forecasts strong second-quarter growth
• Positive Sentiment: AI-related storage demand remains durable, with management citing growing requirements from inference, robotics and long-term data retention. Analysts and industry commentators expect HDDs to remain an important, cost-effective storage layer for data centers, potentially supporting demand visibility into 2030–2031. Western Digital CEO discusses durable AI storage demand
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital generated about $1.38 billion in free cash flow and increased its quarterly dividend 16.7% to $0.175 per share. JPMorgan also raised its price target to $650 and maintained an overweight rating. Western Digital Q1 revenue and dividend update
• Neutral Sentiment: Other analysts remained bullish but reduced some price targets, reflecting elevated expectations and uncertainty around the pace of future growth. TD Cowen, for example, lowered its target to $430 while retaining a buy rating; Rosenblatt and Cantor Fitzgerald also cut targets but remained positive.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock’s strong results were not enough to overcome a broad sell-off in AI, memory and technology shares. Investors are questioning whether hyperscaler capital spending can remain elevated and whether Western Digital’s unusually strong HDD pricing and margins are sustainable.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher planned capital expenditures, possible industry supply increases, inventory concerns and execution risks surrounding the HAMR technology transition are weighing on sentiment. Management also acknowledged that HDD price growth could eventually moderate. Western Digital faces capex and supply concerns
• Negative Sentiment: A disclosed insider sale of 807 shares worth approximately $306,660 added a modest sentiment overhang, although it was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and represented only a small portion of the insider’s holdings. SEC insider transaction filing

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter worth $1,602,927,000. ABS Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at about $1,226,342,000. Anther Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at about $901,601,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at about $885,565,000. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at about $627,606,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.