Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Western Digital has an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with 18 buy ratings, 1 strong buy, and 3 holds across 22 analysts. The average 12-month price target is about $395.83.
• The company has benefited from growing AI storage demand and recently earned a spot in the 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index North America, reinforcing its sustainability and AI infrastructure profile. Recent commentary also highlighted stronger earnings and hyperscaler demand as tailwinds for the stock.
• Western Digital reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue expectations, and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.13 to $0.15 per share. The company also provided upbeat guidance for Q4 2026, while insiders and institutions continued to show activity in the stock.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-two analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $395.8261.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WDC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Susquehanna reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, New Street Research set a $250.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was named to the 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index North America, highlighting its ESG and sustainable AI infrastructure leadership. The company also said the index inclusion and improved operating profile reflect its growing role in AI data storage demand. WD Named to 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best‑in‑Class Index North America, Recognizing Leadership in Sustainable AI Infrastructure
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to point to Western Digital’s AI storage exposure, with articles citing surging earnings, rising hyperscaler demand, and stronger shareholder returns after the SanDisk spinoff as reasons the stock has been trending higher. WDC's Whopping 893% Run in a Year: Buy the Stock Amid AI Storage Boom?
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a 20% dividend increase, which investors may view as a sign of confidence in cash flow and capital returns alongside record AI-related demand for its storage and data platforms. Western Digital Links Higher Dividend And ESG Index Win To AI Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital is also showing up on “trending stock” lists, suggesting elevated investor interest, but these mentions do not add new fundamental information by themselves. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Western Digital Corporation (WDC) is a Trending Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate note said Western Digital’s price target was raised, which can support sentiment but is still secondary to the bigger AI-storage and capital-return story. Western Digital (WDC) price target increased by 31.02% to 483.72
• Negative Sentiment: No major company-specific negative catalyst emerged in the latest headlines, though some coverage compares Western Digital with peers such as Micron and Seagate, which keeps valuation and competition in focus. Why I'd Rather Own Micron Stock Than Sandisk

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $482.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $352.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.79 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $49.00 and a 12-month high of $525.15.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business 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 revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.99%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,905,270.79. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 363 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.09, for a total transaction of $136,883.67. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 120,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,259,473.07. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 53,679 shares of company stock valued at $18,049,314 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% in the 1st 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. lifted its position 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 valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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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