Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) rose 2.2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $492.93 and last traded at $477.22. 11,656,373 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 29% from the average session volume of 9,052,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $466.81.
Trending Headlines about Western Digital
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: New coverage says Western Digital is well positioned to benefit from global AI infrastructure growth, with rising demand for advanced memory and storage supporting a stronger long-term revenue outlook. 4 Top-Ranked Memory Stocks to Buy as AI Infrastructure Expands Globally
- Positive Sentiment: Another report highlighted Western Digital as one of two smaller AI storage names that could benefit from expanding data center demand, citing improving margins and earnings growth potential. Everyone’s Buying NVIDIA, but 2 Smaller AI Stocks Could Soar Higher
- Positive Sentiment: A separate Zacks piece argues AI data growth is accelerating HDD demand and that Western Digital’s focused strategy could help it capture hyperscale storage opportunities. AI Data Growth is Exploding: Can Western Digital Keep Up?
- Neutral Sentiment: Several market wrap-ups noted high volatility in tech and momentum stocks, which is adding noise to trading in Western Digital and other memory names. The Tech Shakeout: Market Extremes & Gavin Baker’s Bold Call
- Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street commentary also flagged Western Digital as part of a broader AI-memory trade, with analysts still generally constructive but market sentiment swinging sharply day to day. Which Storage Stock Is Best Positioned to Win the AI Memory War?
- Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports said Western Digital fell alongside SanDisk and Micron as investors took profits in semiconductor and memory stocks, reflecting sector-wide rotation rather than company-specific trouble. Nasdaq Slips as Chip Stocks Come Under Pressure
- Negative Sentiment: Western Digital also faced a post-rally pullback as traders reassessed how durable the AI-driven storage boom will be ahead of the company’s next earnings report and guidance. Why Western Digital (WDC) Stock Is Down Today
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research firms recently issued reports on WDC. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price target on Western Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.32.
Western Digital Price Performance
The business has a 50 day moving average of $560.89 and a 200 day moving average of $384.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.49 and a beta of 2.11.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.58%.
Insider Activity
In other Western Digital news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after buying an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 229.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 55.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.
About Western Digital
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.
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