Cynthia Tregillis Sells 9,324 Shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the sale, the insider owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,643,630.14. This represents a 7.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Western Digital Stock Down 5.3%

Western Digital stock opened at $245.25 on Friday. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $309.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $246.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $83.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.76.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.02%.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company completed the spin‑off of its flash business and repositioned as a pure‑play HDD supplier, reportedly selling a ~$3.1B stake and securing long‑term hyperscaler agreements that fully book HDD production through at least 2028 — this improves cash, reduces leverage and gives multi‑year revenue visibility. Western Digital Bets On Pure HDD Future With Hyperscaler AI Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Management and analysts highlight sold‑out nearline/HDD capacity for 2026 and guidance pointing to material revenue and margin expansion driven by AI (video, large‑model data), underpinning a structural re‑rating story. Western Digital: AI’s Unsung Storage Backbone
• Neutral Sentiment: Options flow and institutional activity show heightened trading interest — large option bets and increased analyst coverage keep liquidity high but also increase short‑term volatility. Western Digital’s Options: A Look at What the Big Money is Thinking
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer retail promotions and pricing anomalies (e.g., SSD deals) create short‑term retail noise but have limited impact on the enterprise HDD thesis that’s driving the stock. This 2TB WD SN850X is cheaper from Walmart than the equivalent 1TB model in a strange deal
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales were disclosed (senior execs sold shares on March 4), which can sap near‑term sentiment even if sales are for diversification; investors often view clustered executive selling as a caution flag. Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Insider Sells $2,501,349.48 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warn of valuation and cyclical peak risk — some argue recent gains price in peak AI storage demand and a pullback or normalization in hyperscaler buying could trigger downside. Market anxiety after a very large prior run (and a recent sharp sell‑off episode) contributes to heavier profit‑taking. Western Digital: Strong AI Tailwinds, But Valuation Signals Cyclical Peak Risk What Drove WDC Stock’s Historic 490% Jump

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,196,484,000 after acquiring an additional 243,177 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,305,289 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $593,045,000 after purchasing an additional 186,030 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $791,317,000. Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in Western Digital by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 5,535,972 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $354,247,000 after purchasing an additional 431,419 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $788,729,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.58.

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.