Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $800.00

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its target price hoisted by Bank of America from $720.00 to $800.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

WDC has been the topic of several other research reports. Summit Insights lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Western Digital from $730.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $590.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $584.00.

Western Digital Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $343.67 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $432.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $479.51. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $121.85 and a 52-week high of $799.87. The firm has a market cap of $128.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 2.11.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.1750 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 807 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total value of $306,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 108,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,392,640. This trade represents a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total value of $825,466.65. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,052,185.77. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 627 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 182.6% in the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 65 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.0% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,443 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $4,291,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. BG Investment Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth about $5,993,000. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 13.4% during the third quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 3,559 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital News Summary

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

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.