Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 target price on Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 target price on Western Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned 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 Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $536.01 on Friday. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $73.14 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14 and a beta of 2.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $556.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $428.76.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 114,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,663,290.57. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. The trade was a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 25,093 shares of company stock valued at $11,650,737 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 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: Improving fundamentals supported the move higher. Expanding margins and a forecast-beating outlook gave Western Digital-specific support beyond the broader storage-sector rally. The company recently exceeded quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, while revenue grew sharply year over year. Western Digital Stock Jumps Over 6% as Memory Rally Accelerates
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst earnings estimates are being revised upward. Recent estimate revisions suggest expectations for Western Digital’s earnings are improving, potentially supporting additional near-term share-price momentum. Can Western Digital Run Higher on Rising Earnings Estimates?
• Positive Sentiment: AI-related storage demand and pricing tailwinds remain key catalysts. Western Digital is entering fiscal 2027 with expectations for strong end-market demand, better pricing, cloud growth tied to artificial intelligence, and a recovery in its hard-disk-drive business. Can Strong End Markets and Pricing Tailwinds Keep WDC’s Momentum Alive?
• Positive Sentiment: A broad memory-sector rally lifted sentiment. Elon Musk’s comments about a potential memory bottleneck, along with strong long-term expectations for peer SanDisk, helped boost storage and memory stocks, including WDC. Political developments cited by market coverage also contributed to the positive tone. SanDisk Rallies, Western Digital Rises, and Micron Gains as Elon Musk Flags a Memory Bottleneck
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon discounted a WD-branded 5TB My Passport portable hard drive. The promotion may support consumer visibility but is unlikely to materially affect Western Digital’s investment outlook. Amazon Clears Out WD 5TB My Passport Portable External Hard Drive
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street Zen lowered its rating on Western Digital, providing a counterpoint to the more optimistic earnings and industry-demand signals. Western Digital Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

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.