Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Down 4.6% – Here’s What Happened

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s stock price dropped 4.6% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $532.16 and last traded at $555.55. 4,741,969 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 9,052,958 shares. The stock had previously closed at $582.59.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are turning more constructive on Western Digital, with one note arguing the stock could still gain about 30% from current levels thanks to strong demand and a more favorable memory pricing backdrop. Why Analysts Are Betting Western Digital Stock Can Gain Another 30% from Here
• Positive Sentiment: Another earnings preview says Wall Street expects a sharp year-over-year profit increase, which supports the idea that Western Digital’s fundamentals are improving ahead of its next report. Western Digital’s Quarterly Earnings Preview: What You Need to Know
• Positive Sentiment: Shares are also getting a lift from a broader rebound in memory-chip names after the latest SK Hynix-related volatility pulled the sector down earlier this week, suggesting investors are bargain-hunting in WDC and peers. SK Hynix ADR Soars 19% as Leveraged ETFs Launch, Lifting Micron, SanDisk, Western Digital
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital also announced that it will report fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2026 results on August 5, keeping investors focused on upcoming guidance and execution. WD to Announce Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results on August 5, 2026
• Negative Sentiment: The main headwind remains sector turbulence: Western Digital was hit earlier by a memory-chip selloff tied to SK Hynix’s weak outlook and global chip weakness, showing the stock is still sensitive to swings in AI-memory sentiment. SK Hynix’s record plunge drags down global chip stocks

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WDC. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.32.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $194.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.63 and a beta of 2.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $560.28 and its 200 day moving average is $379.58.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change 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 yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its stake in Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter valued at $221,800,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $350,403,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 267.6% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,691,659 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $291,422,000 after buying an additional 1,231,477 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.