Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Up 16.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Western Digital shares jumped 16.1% after Morgan Stanley raised its price target from $488 to $650 and kept an overweight rating on the stock. The shares hit an intraday high of $658.80, reflecting a strong bullish reaction from investors.
• Multiple Wall Street firms have turned more optimistic on Western Digital, with several recent price-target hikes tied to tight HDD supply and AI-driven storage demand. The stock now carries a consensus Moderate Buy rating, according to MarketBeat.
• Fundamentals also appear strong: Western Digital recently reported 45.5% year-over-year revenue growth, beat earnings estimates, and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.13 to $0.15. That combination is helping support the upbeat outlook for the company.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) shot up 16.1% during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $488.00 to $650.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Western Digital traded as high as $658.80 and last traded at $653.53. 9,417,247 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 7% from the average session volume of 8,769,892 shares. The stock had previously closed at $562.92.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $450.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. The trade was a 4.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its Overweight rating on Western Digital and raised its price target to $650, reinforcing a bullish view on the stock. What's Going On With The Jump In Western Digital Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley both set $650 targets, citing tight HDD supply and rising AI-driven demand for storage capacity, which is boosting sentiment across Western Digital and other memory/storage names. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Soars 15% as Wall Street Analysts Set $650 Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s recent earnings update showed strong operating momentum, including 45.5% year-over-year revenue growth and margin expansion, supporting the case that Western Digital is benefiting from a stronger AI storage cycle. Western Digital Corporation Will Hit $600 on This Date
• Positive Sentiment: Broader sector strength is also helping, as memory and storage stocks rose on renewed risk appetite and AI trade optimism, lifting WDC alongside peers like Micron and SanDisk. Micron and Western Digital Climb 8%, SanDisk Rises 6% on Iran Truce
• Neutral Sentiment: Several market write-ups highlighted Western Digital as an AI memory/storage beneficiary and one of Wall Street’s favored names, adding to the bullish narrative but offering no new company-specific catalyst. Western Digital, Seagate Stocks Keep Soaring. Why They’re Morgan Stanley’s Top Picks.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 9.2% in the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 33.3% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 132 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,707 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.1% in the first quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 3,782 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Quadcap Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 16.1%

The company has a market cap of $225.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.02 and a beta of 2.13. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $447.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $309.01.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is 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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