Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Up 3.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shot up 3.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $452.00 and last traded at $450.75. 4,540,258 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 8,853,004 shares. The stock had previously closed at $435.38.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s AI- and cloud-storage outlook remains a key bullish factor. Its latest quarterly revenue rose 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion, while EPS exceeded analyst expectations, and management issued strong guidance for the following quarter. Why are memory stocks falling despite Nvidia’s results
• Positive Sentiment: A $191 million exchange of convertible notes due in 2028 may improve Western Digital’s balance-sheet profile and represents active liability management. Although issuing shares could cause dilution, investors may view the debt reduction favorably. What’s going on with Western Digital stock
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains broadly constructive, with bullish ratings, upward earnings-estimate revisions and a median price target above the current trading level. Technical analysts also point to a hammer pattern that could indicate support and a potential near-term reversal. Wall Street’s views on Western Digital
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are comparing Western Digital with Seagate as competing ways to benefit from AI-driven storage growth. The debate centers on valuation, dividends, growth prospects and potential analyst upside, which may encourage both buying and portfolio rotation within the sector. Seagate versus Western Digital
• Negative Sentiment: Memory stocks broadly decreased even after Nvidia reported strong results. Micron, SanDisk and Western Digital all came under pressure as investors weighed valuation and company-specific factors, suggesting that positive AI news was already reflected in prices. Memory stocks fall despite Nvidia results
• Negative Sentiment: Reported insider activity is a potential overhang: company insiders recorded sales but no purchases during the past six months. Separately, Western Digital is assessing possible exposure to new Iran-related sanctions, which could increase compliance and supply-chain risks.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WDC. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Fox Advisors downgraded shares of Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $676.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $155.02 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56 and a beta of 2.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $538.41 and a 200 day moving average of $438.22.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results 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. 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 earnings per share. 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 684 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $446.17, for a total value of $305,180.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 112,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,036,180.82. This trade represents a 0.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 2,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,634 shares of company stock worth $11,357,073. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.