Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Western Digital has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with 18 buy ratings, 2 strong buys, and 4 holds across 24 brokerages. The average 1-year price target is $493.52.
• The company reported strong fiscal Q4 results, beating estimates with EPS of $2.72 versus $2.39 expected and revenue of $3.34 billion versus $3.25 billion expected. Revenue rose 45.5% year over year, and Western Digital also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share.
• Institutional investors remain heavily involved, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 92.51% of the stock. Recent insider sales were disclosed, though they were relatively small compared with the executives’ remaining holdings.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-four brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $493.52.

A number of research firms have issued reports on WDC. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Fox Advisors lowered Western Digital from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 target price on Western Digital and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $539.00 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $185.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18 and a beta of 2.11. The firm's 50 day moving average is $539.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $360.51. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $63.67 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks still lists Western Digital as a top momentum stock for Q3 2026, pointing to continued investor interest in the memory chip theme and potential upside if the sector rebound continues.
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat noted that the memory rally may still be intact despite the broader semiconductor sell-off, which could support Western Digital if demand for memory chips remains strong.
• Positive Sentiment: A review of WD Red Plus 4TB highlighted the product as a reliable NAS hard drive, reinforcing Western Digital’s reputation in storage hardware.
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital was mentioned alongside other decliners as semiconductor stocks fell on fears that AI-driven chip demand may be cooling, suggesting the stock is being dragged by sector sentiment more than a fresh company-specific catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst-focused articles cited Western Digital’s bullish Wall Street view and strong earnings surprise history, but they did not introduce new information likely to move the stock immediately.
• Neutral Sentiment: Retail promotion news from Flipkart’s GOAT Sale included WD-branded storage devices, which is supportive for brand visibility but likely not material to the stock today.
• Negative Sentiment: The steep decline in Western Digital shares followed a broader semiconductor pullback, with investors apparently rotating out of high-flying AI and chip names.
• Negative Sentiment: Articles about Sandisk’s huge post-spin-off rally and the possibility of a stock split may remind investors of competition and relative performance within the storage space, but they mainly add narrative pressure rather than direct upside for WDC.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 85,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total transaction of $235,699.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Western Digital by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 33.3% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 132 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,707 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $811,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.1% during the first quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 3,782 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Quadcap Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

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.

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