Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Down 2.6% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Western Digital shares fell 2.6% to $386.94, with trading volume below average. The stock is also below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $456.06 and $475.44, respectively.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $618.63—well above the current share price—despite some recent target cuts and downgrades.
• Western Digital recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $3.56 in EPS and $3.75 billion in revenue, while year-over-year revenue rose 43.8%. The company also pays a $0.15 quarterly dividend, although insiders have sold more than $11.4 million in stock over the past 90 days.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) shares were down 2.6% on Monday. The stock traded as low as $385.89 and last traded at $386.94. Approximately 5,353,813 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 8,624,971 shares. The stock had previously closed at $397.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 target price on Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Western Digital from $650.00 to $615.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Western Digital from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Fox Advisors lowered Western Digital from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $618.63.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.6%

The stock's 50 day moving average price is $456.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $475.44. The firm has a market cap of $144.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total value of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 80,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,052,185.77. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 25,437 shares of company stock worth $11,461,345 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 349.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. now owns 2,039 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 593 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Western Digital by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 87,122 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $55,647,000 after purchasing an additional 21,337 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 25.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,487 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $6,698,000 after acquiring an additional 2,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 112.8% in the second quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $816,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation NASDAQ: WDC develops, manufactures and supplies data-storage products and solutions. The company's portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs) used in cloud and enterprise data centers, personal computers, network-attached storage systems and other applications that require high-capacity data storage.

Western Digital markets products under brands including Western Digital, WD and Ultrastar. Its offerings include enterprise and data-center HDDs, storage products for business and consumer systems, and related technologies designed to help organizations store, manage and access large volumes of data.

Founded in 1970, Western Digital has evolved from a maker of electronic components into a global data-storage company.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.