Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. New Street Research set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.00.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of WDC opened at $343.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $116.44 billion, a PE ratio of 34.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $33.42 and a fifty-two week high of $349.75. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $284.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.88.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

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

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Western Digital by 7.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 55.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and Bernstein reaffirm/raised ratings and price targets, supporting near-term upside from fresh bullish sell‑side checks on HDD demand. Morgan Stanley and Bernstein Positive on Western Digital (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: UBS highlights potential for another ~40% gain in memory prices, a macro tailwind that would lift margins and pricing power for WDC’s storage products. UBS Says Memory Prices Could Still Gain 40%. Does That Make Western Digital Stock a Buy Here?
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat and other commentators frame recent pullbacks in memory/storage names as buying opportunities given AI-driven demand — this narrative supports continued investor interest. Memory Wipe: The Great TurboQuant Miscalculation (WDC)
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital announced an open‑source quantum error‑correction collaboration — positive for long‑term tech leadership but unlikely to move near‑term revenue. Western Digital Taps Open Source Quantum Error Correction For Future Storage
• Neutral Sentiment: Seagate’s divestiture of Lyve Cloud to Wasabi refocuses that rival on mass‑capacity storage; this reshapes competitive dynamics but is ambiguous for WDC’s market share. Seagate Divests Lyve Cloud to Enhance Core Storage Focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces on other storage names (Micron, Silicon Motion) and a Yahoo feature on market winners provide sector context but are not WDC‑specific catalysts. The Cheapest Stock in the S&P 500 Is Up 520% Over the Last Year
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest data this cycle is noisy/zeroed out (appears to show an increase but lists 0 shares), so it provides little reliable signal for immediate positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns after a multi‑bagger year: commentary asks whether WDC is getting expensive following a ~7x one‑year surge, which could prompt profit‑taking or higher volatility. Is It Too Late To Consider Western Digital (WDC) After Its 7x One Year Surge?
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts and articles are rotating preference to Seagate as the top pick, highlighting competitive pressure and relative valuation tradeoffs that could divert flows from WDC. Move Over, Western Digital! Why Seagate Is the New Top Stock Pick

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.