Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $262.25.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Western Digital from $260.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $240.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Western Digital to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 1,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total transaction of $272,272.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,090. This trade represents a 33.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.00, for a total transaction of $102,363.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 143,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,819,822. This represents a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 26,816 shares of company stock worth $6,211,148 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WDC. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 124.5% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 102.5% during the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 399 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 86.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 551.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 3.4%

WDC stock opened at $260.19 on Friday. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $296.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $202.97 and its 200 day moving average is $142.32. The company has a market capitalization of $88.21 billion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board approved an additional $4 billion share repurchase program, which supports share price by reducing float and signals management confidence. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company held Innovation Day and unveiled an AI-focused HDD/roadmap (path to 100TB+ drives and High Bandwidth Drive tech) that reinforces WDC’s role in AI data infrastructure and bolsters the long-term demand thesis. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results and guidance showed revenue and margin strength, supporting the “memory supercycle” thesis (durable demand for high‑capacity drives), which underpins bullish analyst revisions. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several firms raised price targets and reiterated buys (examples: Mizuho, Rosenblatt), lifting sentiment and feeding momentum into the stock ahead of today’s pullback. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: SanDisk (spun off from WDC) is rallying sharply and remains very volatile; the sector rotation into memory benefits WDC but also concentrates exposure to cyclical swings. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/policy moves (U.S. push to secure critical minerals) could support domestic supply chains longer term but are not an immediate stock catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares (~$5.1M), a disclosed insider sale that may have prompted short-term profit‑taking or signaled a window for selling after the recent run. Read More.

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.