Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Up 10.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shares shot up 10.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded the stock from a market perform rating to an outperform rating. Sanford C. Bernstein now has a $340.00 price target on the stock. Western Digital traded as high as $296.62 and last traded at $297.9940. 2,335,511 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 9,836,465 shares. The stock had previously closed at $270.49.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on WDC. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $197.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $193.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total value of $5,108,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 623,586 shares in the company, valued at $159,288,807.84. The trade was a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $9,616,638.18. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 92,795 shares of company stock valued at $24,265,884. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein upgraded WDC to Outperform and doubled its price target to $340, calling the recent selloff an overreaction and labeling WDC an “attractive entry point” — this upgrade is the clearest near-term catalyst lifting the stock. Wall Street Thinks Western Digital Stock Price Will Soar Higher This Year
• Positive Sentiment: JetStor announced an 80PB high-density archive deployment for a government agency using Western Digital’s Ultrastar high-capacity drives — a direct enterprise win that supports demand for WDC’s data-center and archive HDD products. JetStor Delivers 80PB High-Density Archive for Government Agency Using WD’s Trusted High-Capacity Ultrastar Drives
• Positive Sentiment: Memory and storage names led the Nasdaq rally today as investors chased momentum and dip-buying in the sector — that rotation into memory stocks is boosting WDC along with peers. Nasdaq Adds to Its Rally. Memory Stocks Led the Charge.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysis pieces argue the recent algorithm-driven selloff created a buying opportunity for memory/storage names given robust AI/cloud demand — this narrative supports continued inflows into WDC. Memory Wipe: The Great TurboQuant Miscalculation (WDC)
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of SanDisk’s spectacular post-spinoff run highlights strong AI-driven end-market demand for memory products — positive industry context but not a direct business update for WDC. Sandisk’s Path to $1,000 Per Share Runs Through the AI Memory Boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Broad analyst coverage (Zacks, others) reiterates that Wall Street views WDC as a strong AI/storage play — helpful for sentiment but varies across firms and time horizons. Wall Street Analysts Think Western Digital (WDC) Is a Good Investment: Is It?
• Negative Sentiment: Underlying volatility remains: recent algorithmic selling and a cooling in memory stocks earlier this week remind investors that WDC remains exposed to sentiment-driven swings. That risk can reverse gains quickly if headlines or demand outlooks shift. Memory Stocks Were One of 2025’s Hottest Trades. Now They’ve Cooled Off.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 124.5% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Westfuller Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $275.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $197.49. The stock has a market cap of $100.94 billion, a PE ratio of 29.86, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.77. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were given 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 of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.