Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) CEO Sells $8,899,400.00 in Stock

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $508.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $556.33 and its 200 day moving average is $425.47. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $73.14 and a one year high of $799.87. The firm has a market cap of $175.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The company’s revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WDC shares. Summit Insights lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 price target on Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $676.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho set a $590.00 target price 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 assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Sector rally supports WDC. SanDisk’s bullish long-term growth targets, including expectations for sustained flash-memory demand, boosted sentiment toward storage companies. Western Digital benefited from the read-through, particularly as investors anticipate continued AI infrastructure spending on HDD and NAND storage. SanDisk outlook article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and quantitative signals improved. Zacks upgraded Western Digital to Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” citing improving earnings prospects. WDC was also included among Zacks’ top momentum stocks, while JPMorgan reportedly raised its price target to $650. Zacks upgrade article
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results provide fundamental support. Western Digital’s latest quarter exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, with revenue rising 43.8% year over year. Stronger pricing, high-capacity drive demand and AI-driven storage requirements are supporting expectations for continued growth. WDC sector rally article
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning is mixed: JPMorgan and Capital World Investors added shares, while several large investors reduced holdings. The conflicting activity does not establish a clear institutional trend.
• Negative Sentiment: Elevated expectations remain a risk. Despite the earnings beat, WDC shares previously fell sharply because management’s guidance did not exceed demanding investor expectations. Concerns remain about moderating sequential growth, NAND pricing volatility and whether the AI-driven storage cycle has peaked. WDC earnings reaction article
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling may weigh on sentiment. CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares for approximately $8.9 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Broader data shows substantial insider selling and no reported insider purchases during the past six months. CEO insider sale article

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.