Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) CEO Irving Tan Sells 20,000 Shares

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total transaction of $5,108,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 623,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,288,807.84. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Western Digital Stock Down 7.2%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $269.41 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $200.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $296.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.80.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. Western Digital’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $293,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 2,832.0% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 2,832 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,536 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $253,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 145.8% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 5,950 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after buying an additional 3,529 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board approved an additional $4 billion share repurchase program, signaling strong capital-return intent and likely supporting near-term demand for shares. Reuters: Western Digital adds $4 billion to buyback plan
• Positive Sentiment: Company held Innovation Day and unveiled an AI-focused storage roadmap (path to 100TB+ HDDs, UltraSMR adoption) and rebranded to “WD,” reinforcing its strategic role in AI data infrastructure. BusinessWire: Western Digital Accelerates Storage Innovation
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results and guidance confirm strong demand: solid Q2 revenue/EPS and the broader “memory supercycle” thesis (AI training & storage needs) that supports durable end-market growth for high-capacity HDDs. MarketBeat: The Memory Supercycle Is Here
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are raising targets and reiterating buys (examples: Mizuho and Rosenblatt with $340 PTs), adding upward pressure to sentiment and fueling momentum. The Fly: Price target raised at Mizuho
• Neutral Sentiment: SanDisk (spun off from WDC) is rallying dramatically, highlighting a broader memory-led rotation into AI hardware; that thematic lift helps WDC but also concentrates sector exposure and volatility risk. MarketBeat: Sandisk’s Swings Are Getting Bigger
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/policy pieces (U.S. push to secure critical-mineral supply chains) could be supportive for domestic supply stability over time but are not an immediate stock catalyst. MarketBeat: Trump administration pushes critical minerals plan
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares (~3.1% reduction in his disclosed position), a near-term negative signal that may have contributed to profit-taking despite his remaining large stake. SEC filing: Insider sale disclosure

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Truist Financial set a $310.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, New Street Research set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.25.

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.