Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Weiss Ratings upgraded the stock from a hold (c+) rating to a buy (b-) rating. The stock traded as high as $294.24 and last traded at $273.1040, with a volume of 2330361 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $270.23.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $193.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial set a $310.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on Western Digital to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 2,801 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.57, for a total value of $449,756.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 144,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,217,779.72. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 1,768 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total transaction of $272,272.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,090. This represents a 33.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 6,816 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,348 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorizes an additional $4 billion share repurchase, signaling management confidence and immediate capital-return support for the stock. Western Digital adds $4 billion to buyback plan as AI boosts memory chip sales
• Positive Sentiment: At Innovation Day 2026 WDC unveiled an AI-focused storage roadmap (100TB+ HDD path, capacity/performance/power gains) that addresses hyperscaler cold-storage needs and supports longer-term revenue/margin expansion. Western Digital Accelerates Storage Innovation for AI Era
• Positive Sentiment: Industry press highlights specific HDD advances (100TB roadmap, UltraSMR adoption) that improve WDC’s addressable market for AI data lakes and cloud customers — reinforces the product credibility behind the company’s growth thesis. WD Unveils Hard Drive Road Map: 100-TB-Plus Capacity, AI-Focused Innovations
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings beat and upbeat guidance (strong revenue and EPS vs. estimates) underpin the rally — analysts and thematic investors are treating WDC as a core play on the memory/storage supercycle tied to AI. 2 Computer Storage Device Stocks to Buy on Solid Earnings & Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness continues: Citi and other firms have raised price targets and ratings after the company update and earnings, adding institutional momentum. Benzinga (price target raise)
• Positive Sentiment: Executive/market commentary (Barron’s, others) frames the sector-wide lift — WDC’s CFO and management messaging that “all boats are rising” supports sentiment across memory and storage names. ‘All Boats Are Rising’ in Data and Memory, Says Western Digital’s CFO. Just Look at the Stocks.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/industry analysis (MarketBeat) argues a memory “supercycle” supports WDC, but notes wafer/supply dynamics and longer-term cycle risk — worth monitoring for potential volatility as capacity and pricing evolve. The Memory Supercycle Is Here—2 Winners From 1 Breakup

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 229.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $307,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 2.6% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 46,586 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the second quarter worth approximately $83,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Up 7.4%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $198.69 and its 200 day moving average is $140.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $98.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.80.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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

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.