Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Downgraded to "Equal Weight" Rating by Fox Advisors

Key Points

• Fox Advisors downgraded Western Digital from “overweight” to “equal weight”, even as the broader analyst community remains constructive on the stock.
• Other analysts recently raised their views and price targets, and MarketBeat says Western Digital now has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $450.46 average price target.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and gave Q4 2026 EPS guidance of 3.1 to 3.4, while insiders have been selling shares and institutional ownership remains high.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Fox Advisors from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on WDC. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $450.46.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $746.23 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $487.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $328.32. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $58.66 and a 1-year high of $799.87. The firm has a market cap of $257.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.55 and a beta of 2.13.

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

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This trade represents a 2.82% 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 valued at $12,768,550. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 7.7% during 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 last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Western Digital by 229.7% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 55.3% during 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 during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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