Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Insider Sells $305,180.28 in Stock

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 684 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $446.17, for a total transaction of $305,180.28. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 112,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,036,180.82. The trade was a 0.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Western Digital Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $468.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.61 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 2.14. Western Digital Corporation has a twelve month low of $77.90 and a twelve month high of $799.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $538.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $438.22.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 64,424.3% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 338,388,746 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $216,135,660,000 after purchasing an additional 337,864,310 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $456,884,000 after buying an additional 384,103 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $512,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,661 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $676.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital disclosed exchange agreements covering approximately $191 million of its 3.00% convertible notes due 2028. The transaction will provide holders with cash and shares, potentially reducing debt, although the stock component could create some dilution. The exchanges are expected to close on or after September 2. Western Digital convertible notes article
• Positive Sentiment: Investors continue to see support from AI, cloud and data-center demand. Western Digital recently reported quarterly revenue of $3.75 billion, up 43.8% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $3.56 versus the $3.31 consensus. Management’s next-quarter outlook also points to continued strong growth. Western Digital debt exchange and AI demand analysis
• Positive Sentiment: A hammer chart pattern suggests technical support after the stock’s recent decline, while upward earnings-estimate revisions may improve the likelihood of a near-term rebound. Western Digital bottoming pattern article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains broadly favorable, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a median recent price target of approximately $597.50. However, targets vary widely, reflecting uncertainty around valuation and execution.
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital is assessing potential effects from new U.S. sanctions related to Iran, including possible compliance costs, supply-chain disruptions and impacts on contract manufacturing or shipments. Western Digital Iran sanctions exposure article
• Negative Sentiment: Insider activity has been heavily weighted toward sales, including transactions by executives and directors. The reported sales were made under pre-arranged trading plans, reducing their significance, but they remain a potential overhang for sentiment.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader caution toward highly valued AI and memory stocks, ahead of Nvidia’s earnings, and concerns about potential Chinese memory competition could pressure sector valuations and future pricing.

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.