Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Insider Sells $115,480.82 in Stock

Key Points

• Insider sale: Western Digital insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 214 shares for about $115,480.82 in a transaction filed with the SEC. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
• Stock performance and recent results: Western Digital shares rose about 1.1% in midday trading, and the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue on April 30. Revenue jumped 45.5% from a year earlier, and the company issued Q4 2026 EPS guidance of $3.10 to $3.40.
• Dividend and analyst sentiment: Western Digital increased its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share from $0.13, while analysts remain broadly positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and a mean price target of $413.50. Several firms also recently raised targets, citing AI-related demand and storage sector momentum.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 214 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $539.63, for a total value of $115,480.82. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 117,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,221,431.91. This trade represents a 0.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.1%

Western Digital stock traded up $5.95 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $530.60. 6,260,029 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,004,754. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.68 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $382.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $274.09. Western Digital Corporation has a 52 week low of $51.17 and a 52 week high of $546.68.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $310.00 price target on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $335.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $413.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $791,317,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $788,729,000. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $409,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,339,225 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter worth $221,800,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI raised its price target on Western Digital and called the stock “underappreciated,” arguing that AI infrastructure demand should support hard disk drive growth at more than 25% annually for years. Hard Disk Drives Are Critical for AI but Western Digital Stock Is Still Underappreciated Here
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted Western Digital as a beneficiary of the broader “memory melt-up,” with Micron’s surge and the memory shortage improving pricing visibility and free cash flow prospects across the storage sector. Micron’s $1 Trillion Memory Melt-Up
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary and comparison pieces favored Western Digital as a steadier data infrastructure play, citing its scale, AI-linked growth, and stronger profitability versus turnaround stories in the space. WDC vs. QMCO: Which Data Infrastructure Stock to Bet On?
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital was also mentioned in broader market coverage about tech strength and rising investor attention, reinforcing momentum but adding little company-specific new information. Stocks Rise Pre-Bell Amid Tech Rally; Middle East Uncertainty Persists
• Negative Sentiment: One article noted that Western Digital insiders sold about $18 million of stock, which may slightly temper enthusiasm even though insider sales do not necessarily signal a change in fundamentals. Western Digital Insiders Sold US$18m Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy

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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