Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Upgraded 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 research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on WDC. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ WDC opened at $438.34 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $563.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $420.25. The stock has a market cap of $151.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11 and a beta of 2.14. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $73.14 and a twelve month high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. Western Digital’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Western Digital will post 18.21 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given 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 currently 2.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 114,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,663,290.57. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,093 shares of company stock valued at $2,751,337. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,270,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $193,303,000 after buying an additional 282,156 shares during the period. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,889,000. World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 145.8% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 5,950 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after buying an additional 3,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Western Digital by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 342,516 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $59,040,000 after acquiring an additional 131,247 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Key Western Digital News

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 and net income of $3.20 billion, while full-year revenue reached $12.92 billion. Results exceeded expectations, and management said AI customers are negotiating multiyear storage agreements, improving demand visibility as data-intensive workloads expand. Western Digital earnings and dividend article
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a $0.15-per-share cash dividend payable in September 2026, adding shareholder returns to an already strong earnings-growth narrative. Western Digital has also been highlighted as a potentially attractive discounted opportunity within the memory sector after its pullback. Memory sector stock article
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary points to a broader memory-industry correction. SanDisk’s dramatic post-spinoff rally and subsequent pullback, along with Micron’s AI-related gains, are increasing volatility across storage and memory stocks. These developments may support long-term demand for Western Digital but also raise concerns about crowded AI trades and sector-wide profit taking. SanDisk breakout article
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts have become more cautious after the earnings rally. Summit Insights downgraded Western Digital to “Hold,” while Rosenblatt Securities lowered its price target to $800. The downgrades reinforce concerns that much of the expected AI and memory upside may already be reflected in the stock. Western Digital analyst downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also questioning the durability of the cyclical upcycle. Commentary highlights Western Digital’s elevated valuation and the risk that memory shortages, supply responses or weaker demand could eventually pressure margins. Those concerns are contributing to the stock’s post-earnings decline despite strong reported results. Western Digital valuation and cycle article

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.