Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from Argus

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its target price trimmed by Argus from $600.00 to $500.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

WDC has been the topic of several other reports. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 17th. Mizuho set a $490.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Susquehanna set a $405.00 target price on Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Western Digital from $590.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.04.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $396.42 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $148.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 2.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $424.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $415.00. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $131.25 and a 52-week high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 69.20% and a return on equity of 55.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Analysts predict that Western Digital will post 20.23 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a $0.1750 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 2.33%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at $53,650,465.80. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,436 shares of company stock worth $11,340,064. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,470,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.8% during the second quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $921,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% during the second quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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’s quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $4.64 per share versus the $4.11 consensus and revenue of $4.38 billion, up 55.5% year over year. Management highlighted strong hard-disk-drive demand, higher pricing and growing demand for high-capacity drives used in cloud and AI infrastructure. WDC Q1 Earnings Call Highlights Pricing Strength and Storage Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Expectations for fiscal second-quarter 2027 have improved as analysts cite rising HDD prices, resilient demand and expanding AI workloads as potential drivers of revenue growth, margins and earnings. Zacks also added WDC to its Rank #1 Strong Buy list. WDC’s Fiscal Q2 Forecast Improves
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment provided an additional catalyst: Western Digital received an upgrade to a Zacks Rank #2 Buy, while one highly bullish Wall Street analyst reportedly sees substantial upside from current levels. The company’s recently announced 17% dividend increase also supports the investment case. Western Digital Rating Upgrade to Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital remains volatile after falling more than 50% from its 12-month high. Although its earnings growth and cloud-storage exposure are attracting investors, the large price swings indicate that expectations and valuation remain sensitive to changes in the storage cycle.
• Negative Sentiment: Shares faced some pressure in after-hours trading after Seagate Technologies reported results, as investors appeared concerned about read-through risks for the broader storage sector. Argus also issued a pessimistic price forecast, tempering the more optimistic analyst views. Western Digital Stock Slides After Hours

About Western Digital

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.