Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Up 8% – Time to Buy?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s stock price was up 8% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $529.72 and last traded at $529.29. Approximately 6,193,463 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 8,785,049 shares. The stock had previously closed at $490.09.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: WDC is benefiting from a sector-wide rebound in memory and storage shares, with investors buying the dip after last week’s sharp pullback. SanDisk Jumps 14%, Western Digital Climbs 6% as Memory Stocks Rebound on SK Hynix’s Capacity Plan
• Positive Sentiment: Recent analyst actions remain supportive, with Mizuho and Citi raising price targets on Western Digital and maintaining constructive ratings amid strong AI-related storage demand. Mizuho and Citi Raise Western Digital (WDC) Price Targets
• Positive Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm is also being supported by the view that AI-driven storage demand, pricing gains, and WDC’s more focused HDD business could sustain growth. Western Digital Stock Skyrockets 185% YTD: Is More Growth on the Horizon?
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage coverage remains broadly favorable, with Western Digital receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating. Western Digital Corporation Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages
• Negative Sentiment: WDC has also faced periodic weakness from broader market pressure, including a selloff tied to hotter-than-expected inflation data that revived rate-hike concerns. IPG Photonics, Western Digital, and Skyworks Solutions Shares Are Falling, What You Need To Know

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $433.29.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $436.75 and its 200-day moving average is $303.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 3.58%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter worth $34,244,000. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 399.8% during the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,900,000 after purchasing an additional 25,987 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 75.4% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 4,068 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $2,270,000. Finally, WESPAC Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $793,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.