Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $618.63

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $608.26.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. Susquehanna raised their price target on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $650.00 to $615.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $730.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo analysts said the recent selloff in Western Digital and Seagate has been “well overdone” and remained broadly bullish, providing some support for the long-term outlook. Seagate and Western Digital Stocks Fall on Toshiba Fears
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital expects fiscal first-quarter revenue to increase about 45%, driven by strong AI infrastructure and cloud-storage demand. Its prior quarter exceeded analyst expectations for both revenue and earnings, while management’s fiscal 2027 EPS guidance remains solid. Western Digital Pre-Q1 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are waiting for the October 22 earnings report to determine whether accelerating AI and hyperscaler demand can support current earnings estimates and justify the stock’s valuation. Western Digital Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo reduced its price target for Western Digital, adding to bearish headlines even though the firm reportedly maintained a constructive view. The cuts have intensified concerns that expectations for the AI trade had become excessive. Friday’s First Moves
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are concerned that Toshiba’s planned hard-disk-drive capacity expansion could increase future supply and pricing pressure. Rising interest-rate risks and questions about whether roughly $1 trillion of hyperscaler capital spending can continue are also weighing on storage stocks. Seagate and Western Digital Face Supply Risks
• Negative Sentiment: A broader technology and memory-stock selloff, concerns about Chinese competition in server memory, and analyst commentary describing Western Digital as potentially near a cyclical peak have prompted investors to lock in gains after its substantial advance. Memory Stocks Extend Selloff on China Competition Fears

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,650,465.80. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This represents 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 a total of 25,437 shares of company stock valued at $11,461,345 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Banque Pictet & Cie SA bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $591,000. James T. Borello RIA acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter valued at $50,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 7.2% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 8,201 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,727,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 349.1% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. now owns 2,039 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares during the period. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 5.5% during the third quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 593 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $332.00 on Wednesday. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $117.23 and a 1-year high of $799.87. The stock has a market cap of $124.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 2.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $442.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $476.83.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.48%.

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.