Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Down 1.5% After Insider Selling

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s stock price traded down 1.5% during trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $443.02 and last traded at $462.00. 7,534,950 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 8,823,615 shares. The stock had previously closed at $468.88.

Specifically, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. The trade was a 0.89% 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. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 476 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.78, for a total transaction of $214,571.28. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 114,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,742,331.52. This represents a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $446.17, for a total transaction of $305,180.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. Mizuho set a $590.00 target price on Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price target on Western Digital and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $534.56.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s long-term outlook remains supported by demand for AI infrastructure, cloud computing, enterprise storage, automotive systems and other data-intensive applications. Analysts at Zacks continue to identify WDC as a potential beneficiary of strong memory and storage demand, particularly following Nvidia’s solid results. 4 High-Flying Memory and Storage Giants
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest quarterly results provide fundamental support: revenue rose 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion, while earnings of $3.56 per share exceeded expectations. Guidance for $3.85 to $4.15 in next-quarter EPS also remains constructive.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street’s consensus remains bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target above the current trading level. Several firms have cited continued AI and storage demand as reasons for further upside. Wall Street’s Bullish Views on WDC
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider Cynthia Tregillis sold a small portion of her holdings under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The transactions modestly reduce her position but do not necessarily signal deteriorating confidence. Cynthia Tregillis Insider Transactions
• Negative Sentiment: Memory and storage stocks sold off even after Nvidia reported strong results, suggesting investors are taking profits from an extended AI trade and differentiating among suppliers. Western Digital’s underperformance versus peers has amplified concern that expectations or valuation may have become too aggressive. Why Memory Stocks Fell Despite Nvidia’s Results

Western Digital Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $526.99 and a 200-day moving average of $439.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth $31,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 45.5% during the second quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing 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.