Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Climb 1.8% – Here’s What Happened

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s share price traded up 1.8% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $463.55 and last traded at $462.56. 6,132,460 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 8,519,738 shares. The stock had previously closed at $454.46.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was identified as one of three stocks with accelerating earnings growth. Zacks said this trend can precede share-price gains and signal improving business momentum. 3 Stocks With Accelerating Earnings Poised to Soar in October
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to view WDC as a long-term growth stock, supported by favorable style scores and its role in AI-related data infrastructure. The company’s recent results also showed strong momentum, with revenue up 43.8% year over year and earnings exceeding estimates. Why Western Digital is a Top Growth Stock for the Long-Term
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s hard drives were highlighted as infrastructure supporting AI-powered NAS systems and high-intensity data workloads. Separately, a market analysis described data-center bottlenecks as creating a potential buying opportunity for WDC, implying that demand may remain strong as customers expand storage capacity. Western Digital Discusses WD Red Pro HDDs
• Neutral Sentiment: Several Zacks articles compared WDC with Super Micro Computer on valuation. These reports may attract value-oriented investors, but they do not represent a new corporate catalyst or change in guidance. SMCI or WDC: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital dipped alongside Micron and SK Hynix after Micron’s shares fell despite record results and above-consensus guidance. The reaction suggests investors may be taking profits or demanding stronger evidence before bidding up semiconductor and storage stocks, creating a near-term sector headwind for WDC. Micron Slips Despite Record Quarter and Above-Consensus Guidance

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on WDC. Summit Insights cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Western Digital from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.8%

The company has a market cap of $159.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 2.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $469.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $469.49.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.48%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,052,185.77. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 432 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.20, for a total transaction of $194,918.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 111,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,096,736. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 25,437 shares of company stock worth $11,461,345 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) develops, manufactures and supplies data-storage products and solutions. The company’s portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs) used in cloud and enterprise data centers, personal computers, network-attached storage systems and other applications that require high-capacity data storage.

Western Digital markets products under brands including Western Digital, WD and Ultrastar. Its offerings include enterprise and data-center HDDs, storage products for business and consumer systems, and related technologies designed to help organizations store, manage and access large volumes of data.

Founded in 1970, Western Digital has evolved from a maker of electronic components into a global data-storage company.