Vidyadhara Gubbi Sells 10,148 Shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total transaction of $2,743,105.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 107,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,137,796.14. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Western Digital Trading Down 5.3%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $245.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $83.15 billion, a PE ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.76. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.86. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $309.90.

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

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given 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 payout ratio is presently 5.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group set a $306.00 price objective on Western Digital in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Argus set a $300.00 target price on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $260.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.58.

Key Western Digital News

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,792 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $88,000. Tobam grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1,117.6% during the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 7,208 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,242,000 after buying an additional 6,616 shares during the last quarter. Wick Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $344,000. Finally, MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $244,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.