Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Rating Lowered by Summit Insights

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) was downgraded by investment analysts at Summit Insights from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on WDC. Mizuho raised their target price on Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Western Digital from $685.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Bank of America increased their price target on Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Down 3.8%

WDC opened at $434.30 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $565.61 and its 200-day moving average is $417.35. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $73.14 and a 52-week high of $799.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Western Digital will post 17.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 5,093 shares of company stock worth $2,751,337 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,270,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Western Digital by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $193,303,000 after acquiring an additional 282,156 shares during the period. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $20,889,000. World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 145.8% in the 4th 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 lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 131,247 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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, up about 44% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $3.56 per share—both ahead of Wall Street expectations. Growth was supported by AI-related cloud storage demand, stronger pricing, and higher-capacity hard-disk drives. Western Digital Q4 Earnings Beat as Revenue Jumps 44% on Cloud Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted strong visibility into AI-storage demand, with some customers negotiating capacity commitments through 2031. The company also expects continued margin expansion, while analysts remain broadly constructive; recent price targets include $630 from Baird and a $575 median across 15 analysts. Western Digital Says AI Customers Are Already Negotiating Storage Deals Through 2031
• Neutral Sentiment: The selloff is part of a broader rotation within semiconductor and memory stocks. Investors have been shifting toward AI networking leaders, while comparing Western Digital’s results with stronger results from rival Seagate Technology. Western Digital Slumps Despite Q2 Beat as Analysts Highlight Peer Seagate’s Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, payable September 17 to shareholders of record September 8. The dividend provides a modest shareholder return but is unlikely to drive the near-term trading reaction.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors viewed fiscal-first-quarter 2027 gross-margin guidance of 55%–56% as insufficiently strong after the stock’s dramatic advance and elevated expectations. Although the outlook implies sequential improvement, it trailed the bar set by Seagate and was interpreted as evidence that the recent margin expansion may be stabilizing. Western Digital Shares Fall as Margin Outlook Tempers Strong Q4 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking intensified because Western Digital had already rallied sharply on the AI-storage theme. The strong earnings beat therefore failed to exceed the market’s unusually high expectations, prompting a valuation reset and technical concerns around support levels. Sandisk, Western Digital Drag on Chip Stocks as Lofty Expectations Eclipse Strong Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Reported insider activity has been heavily tilted toward selling, with 129 sales and no purchases over the past six months. While such transactions may reflect diversification or compensation, the lack of insider buying adds to near-term investor caution.

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.