Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Given New $405.00 Price Target at Barclays

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price target hoisted by Barclays from $325.00 to $405.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on WDC. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Western Digital to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Argus set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.79.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $389.10 on Wednesday. Western Digital has a one year low of $37.47 and a one year high of $402.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market cap of $131.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.03, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $299.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.92.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted 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 company earned $1.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 5.02%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total transaction of $2,501,349.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,630.14. This represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. Insiders have sold 92,711 shares of company stock worth $24,300,404 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 124.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Avion Wealth grew its stake in Western Digital by 163.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its coverage and boosted WDC’s price target to $405 with an Overweight rating, reinforcing institutional buy-side momentum and supporting the rally. Barclays raises price target to $405
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan (and Morgan Stanley commentary) flagged WDC as a top memory/storage idea and JPMorgan raised its price target to $400, adding credibility to the upside case and likely driving buy-side flows. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley Bullish on Western Digital (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage has broadly shifted positive — Evercore and other shops have published bullish notes and the street consensus sits around a “moderate buy,” helping sustain momentum into new highs. Analyst consensus and Evercore note
• Positive Sentiment: Sector bullishness from continued AI-driven memory demand (Micron coverage and broader commentary) is lifting peers like WDC as investors price in stronger near‑term storage demand and higher margins. Stock Market Today, April 22: Micron Technology Surges on Continued Memory Boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital published its FY2025 Annual Sustainability Report emphasizing efficiency and sustainability for AI-scale storage — a message that can help institutional ESG positioning but has limited immediate revenue impact. WD Raises the Bar on Sustainable Infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Management will be participating in several investor conferences (Barclays, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America) in May–June, which provides additional chances for guidance clarity and analyst engagement — important but informational. WD to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: Memory-focused ETF flows (first dedicated memory ETF reaching ~$1B AUM) show strong demand for the group, which benefits WDC as a large-cap exposure to the theme but may amplify volatility. Memory ETF hits $1B AUM
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks and other commentators note WDC’s rapid run (to a 52-week high) leaves valuation stretched and raises the risk of a pullback if AI demand growth or margin assumptions disappoint. That makes timing entry points and position sizing more important. Is Western Digital Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold After Hitting a 52-Week High?
• Negative Sentiment: Comparative analysis (SanDisk vs Western Digital) highlights NAND-focused peers with different end-market exposure; investors worried about longer-term NAND vs HDD secular trends may prefer competitors, which could cap WDC’s multiple over time. SanDisk vs. Western Digital: Which Memory Storage Stock Is the Better Buy?

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.