Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Down 4.2% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Western Digital shares fell 4.2% in midday trading to $497.92, with 6.19 million shares changing hands—below the stock’s average daily volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with the stock carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $520.32.
• The company recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $2.72 in EPS and $3.34 billion in revenue, while also raising its quarterly dividend from $0.12 to $0.15 per share.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 4.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $471.32 and last traded at $497.92. 6,190,342 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 8,912,680 shares. The stock had previously closed at $519.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WDC. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price objective on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $520.32.

Western Digital Stock Down 4.2%

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $564.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $398.53. The company has a market capitalization of $171.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.73 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 28,959 shares of company stock worth $12,631,666 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, BOKF NA grew its stake in Western Digital by 6,700.0% in the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

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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