Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) CEO Sells $8,236,800.00 in Stock

Key Points

• CEO stock sale: Western Digital CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares on May 1 at an average price of $411.84 for $8,236,800 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, leaving him with 598,150 shares (a 3.24% reduction in his stake).
• Earnings, guidance and market reaction: WDC surged about 5.2% to $465.26 after reporting a Q3 beat (EPS $2.72 vs. $2.39) with revenue up 45.5%, strong margins and raised Q4 guidance (3.10–3.40 EPS), and the company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.15.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Western Digital Trading Up 5.2%

Shares of WDC stock traded up $22.90 on Tuesday, reaching $465.26. 9,668,011 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,379,323. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $43.60 and a one year high of $480.11. The stock has a market cap of $157.74 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 2.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $314.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.84.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The company's revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $1,602,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 167.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 535 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at about $405,000. Hudson Canyon Capital Management acquired a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at about $1,447,000. Finally, Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 8.0% in the first quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,012 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Susquehanna restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Argus set a $300.00 price objective on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Western Digital from $405.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $395.83.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat, raised guidance and dividend increase are driving investor interest — analysts and outlets cite stronger AI-driven storage demand and margin momentum as the fundamental support for the rally. Western Digital (WDC) Valuation Check As Strong AI Storage Demand And Dividend Hike Lift Investor Interest
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts are raising targets after the Q3 beat (some very high), which is underpinning optimism and fresh buy ratings. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Surges as Analysts Set $660 Price Target Following Q3 Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Independent bullish calls and price-target lifts (24/7 Wall St. $513 target; Jim Cramer supportive commentary) add momentum and retail attention. AI Boom Drives Western Digital Toward $500 Target Jim Cramer Says 'Overheated' Storage Stocks Still Have Room To Run
• Neutral Sentiment: SanDisk’s post-spinoff surge (now approaching ~$200B market cap) is shifting sector headlines; that strengthens the memory market narrative but also diverts some investor focus away from WDC. Sandisk Spun Off From Western Digital Just Last Year. Now It’s a $200B Company. Sandisk Spun Off From Western Digital Just Last Year. Now It's a $200B Company.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s investor presentations and conference appearances (Barclays transcript) are being used to reinforce the AI-storage story; useful for conviction but not new earnings. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) Presents at Barclays 18th Annual Americas Select Conference Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and momentum risk: the stock has run hard YTD and month-to-month, and some measured price-targets (e.g., Robert W. Baird’s $450) imply limited near-term upside from levels in recent trading — raises the chance of profit-taking. Western Digital NASDAQ: WDC Price Target Raised to $450.00 at Robert W. Baird

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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