Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Western Digital has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with 18 buy ratings, 1 strong buy, and 3 holds among 22 analysts. The average 1-year price target is about $433.29.
• The company’s latest earnings beat expectations, reporting $2.72 EPS versus estimates of $2.39 and revenue of $3.34 billion, up 45.5% year over year. Western Digital also guided Q4 2026 EPS to 3.10–3.40.
• Western Digital increased its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share from $0.13, though the yield remains low at about 0.1%. The article also notes recent insider selling and continued heavy institutional ownership.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-two analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $433.2917.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Western Digital from $500.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th.

Western Digital Stock Down 5.3%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $490.09 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $436.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $303.37. The firm has a market cap of $168.92 billion, a PE ratio of 29.26 and a beta of 2.13. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $54.60 and a twelve month high of $602.54.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. Western Digital's revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 116,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in 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 worth $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,019 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 967 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho reiterated a bullish view on Western Digital, saying AI-driven storage demand continues to show no signs of slowing, which supports the long-term revenue outlook for the company. Mizuho doubles down on WDC stock as AI storage demand shows no signs of slowing down
• Positive Sentiment: Citi also remained bullish on Western Digital, suggesting analysts still see upside potential despite the stock’s recent volatility. Citi Remains Bullish on Western Digital Corporation (WDC) – Here’s Why
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital has been receiving elevated investor attention, with multiple articles noting that WDC is a trending stock and worth watching, but these pieces do not point to a specific new catalyst. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Neutral Sentiment: One market commentary said WDC could deserve attention, reflecting continued interest in the stock rather than a clear operational update. Here's Why We Think Western Digital NASDAQ: WDC Might Deserve Your Attention Today
• Negative Sentiment: WDC fell more sharply than the broader market in the latest session, as memory and storage names came under pressure alongside peers such as Micron, indicating sector-wide risk-off sentiment was a key driver of the decline. Western Digital (WDC) Falls More Steeply Than Broader Market: What Investors Need to Know
• Negative Sentiment: Broader semiconductor and memory stocks sold off after geopolitical headlines raised macro uncertainty, and Western Digital was caught up in that move. Skyworks Solutions, Western Digital, and Teradyne Shares Are Falling, What You Need To Know

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.

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