Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $500.00

Key Points

• Rosenblatt Securities raised its price target on Western Digital to $500 (from $340) and maintains a buy rating, implying about a 15% upside from the current price.
• Western Digital has recently reported stronger-than-expected results and raised its outlook—cited as confirmation of robust AI/cloud demand—and also boosted its quarterly dividend by 20%, signaling confidence in cash flow and pricing power.
• Overall analyst sentiment is positive with 18 Buy ratings and 4 Holds, and an average price target of $340.91, though Rosenblatt's target is materially higher than the consensus.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from $340.00 to $500.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the data storage provider's stock. Rosenblatt Securities' price objective would suggest a potential upside of 15.07% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $200.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Argus set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.91.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $434.52 on Friday. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $43.60 and a 52 week high of $441.99. The firm has a market cap of $147.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.77. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $314.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,630.14. This trade represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total transaction of $2,743,105.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 107,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,137,796.14. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 92,711 shares of company stock worth $24,300,404 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,684 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $4,513,000 after purchasing an additional 3,035 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS bought a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $588,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 2,495.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 519 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 48.3% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 4,857 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $278,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat and strong top-line — Western Digital reported Q3 revenue of $3.34B (up ~45% YoY) and EPS of $2.72, comfortably above estimates; investors are treating the results as confirmation of robust AI/cloud demand. MarketBeat: WDC Q3 results
• Positive Sentiment: Raised FY/Q4 outlook — Management issued stronger-than-expected guidance (Q4 EPS range and revenue guidance above Street estimates), signaling continued pricing power and demand visibility into enterprise/AI builds. MarketBeat: Guidance & slides
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and peers validate AI-driven thesis — Analysts have raised targets (TD Cowen referenced) and Seagate/Sandisk results reinforce that hyperscaler AI demand is broad-based, supporting higher nearline capacity utilization and pricing. Blockonomi: WDC surge & analyst moves
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase — Western Digital raised its quarterly dividend by 20% to $0.15 per share (annualized yield remains small), a sign of confidence in cash flow and capital allocation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call/transcript available — Management commentary and the transcript highlight margin expansion and allocation plans (slides and Q&A detail capex, supply constraints, and customer commitments). Useful for investors who want guidance color. Seeking Alpha: WDC Q3 call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking and "sell the news" dynamics — Despite the beat, the stock has seen intraday pullbacks as investors locked gains after WDC’s large YTD run; some coverage points to the memory trade overheating and short-term rotation risk. MarketWatch: Stock slides despite earnings beat
• Negative Sentiment: Volatility risk vs. high expectations — Coverage notes WDC has surged heavily (~many multiples YTD), so even strong beats can trigger outsized moves lower if forward cadence or demand cadence disappoints. Yahoo Finance: WDC falls despite topping Q3

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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