Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Western Digital shares jumped after Susquehanna raised its price target to $500 from $360, helping the stock gap up and trade around $600.62. Despite the higher target, Susquehanna kept a neutral rating.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly constructive, with several firms lifting price targets and ratings tied to AI-driven memory and storage demand. MarketBeat says Western Digital now has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $502.12.
• The company recently delivered strong quarterly results, including EPS of $2.72 versus estimates of $2.39 and revenue growth of 45.5% year over year. Western Digital also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 from $0.12, though insider selling was reported in recent months.

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $360.00 to $500.00. The stock had previously closed at $550.30, but opened at $594.14. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Western Digital shares last traded at $600.6190, with a volume of 1,519,982 shares.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. 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. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Fox Advisors cut shares of Western Digital from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $502.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,366,060.96. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Susquehanna raised its price target on Western Digital to $500 from $360, signaling improved expectations for the company’s outlook. Western Digital NASDAQ: WDC Price Target Raised to $500.00 at Susquehanna
• Positive Sentiment: Melius Research also turned bullish on Western Digital, reinforcing the view that memory and storage demand tied to AI could keep supporting earnings. Melius Research is Bullish on Western Digital Corporation (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Investor chatter continues to center on Western Digital’s strong earnings momentum and AI storage tailwinds, with commentary noting several consecutive earnings beats and improving fundamentals. Western Digital Stock (WDC) Opinions on Analyst Upgrades Amid AI Storage Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital’s latest earnings report showed revenue growth of 45.5% year over year and a beat on both EPS and sales, which supports the long-term bull case but is already well known to investors.
• Neutral Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reportedly reiterated a Hold rating, and Susquehanna’s new target still sits below the recent trading level, suggesting some analysts think the stock already reflects much of the optimism. Western Digital (WDC) Gets a Hold from Goldman Sachs
• Negative Sentiment: Recent weakness in memory stocks after Samsung’s earnings sparked a sector-wide selloff has been a headwind, showing that sentiment around the group can still turn quickly. Western Digital Stock Drops 8.5%: Why Samsung’s Profit Surge Triggered a Tech Selloff

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $218,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth about $120,038,000. Everpar Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $530,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS acquired a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,025,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Trading Up 7.5%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $548.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $368.57. The stock has a market cap of $203.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.26 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company 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 quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 3.58%.

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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