Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Up 3.8% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Western Digital shares rose 3.8% to about $483 after a Q3 EPS beat and raised guidance, with accelerating revenue and margins driven by AI/data‑center HDD demand.
• Multiple analysts upgraded WDC and lifted price targets into the ~$500 area, while the consensus from 23 analysts is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $395.83.
• Despite the rally, notable insider selling occurred—insiders sold roughly 97,385 shares (~$29.5M) in the last 90 days—while the company modestly increased its quarterly dividend to $0.15 (annualized yield ~0.1%).

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 3.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $483.87 and last traded at $483.15. Approximately 8,216,218 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average daily volume of 9,366,842 shares. The stock had previously closed at $465.26.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat and upbeat guidance — WDC reported an EPS beat and raised its FYQ4 EPS range, with accelerating revenue and margins driven by AI/data‑center HDD demand, which is a core reason investors are bidding the stock up. Western Digital Stock Surges After Q3 Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price-target lifts — Multiple firms (including TD Cowen and Wells Fargo) raised price targets into the ~$500 area and reiterated buy/overweight views, reinforcing momentum and giving investors fresh upside conviction. AI Boom Drives Western Digital Toward $500 Target
• Positive Sentiment: Sector tailwind from SanDisk's breakout — SanDisk’s dramatic post‑spinoff rally and strength in memory suppliers supports a bullish narrative for WDC as customers scale AI/datacenter capacity. SanDisk Outpaces Former Parent
• Positive Sentiment: Risk‑on market backdrop and media endorsements — Falling VIX and bullish TV/press coverage (including Jim Cramer highlighting storage stocks) have helped rotate capital into tech and storage names like WDC. Jim Cramer on Storage Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Equity‑for‑equity exchange announced — WD entered agreements to exchange Sandisk and WDC shares (settlement expected May 7). This is a capital‑structure/holder rearrangement that is informational but not clearly dilutive or immediately value‑creating. WD Announces Equity-for-Equity Exchange
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor outreach — WDC presented at Barclays’ conference and has widespread coverage; useful for transparency and flows but not an immediate catalyst. Barclays Conference Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling / executive stock sales — CEO Irving Tan (20,000 shares under a 10b5‑1 plan) and other executives sold shares recently; while some sales were pre‑arranged, investors often view sizable insider selling near highs as a modest negative signal. Irving Tan SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Additional insider reductions — Other insiders (including the COO) sold smaller stakes this week, which may keep some traders cautious about near‑term profit‑taking risk. Executives Unload $10M+

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $310.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, New Street Research set a $250.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $395.83.

Western Digital Stock Up 3.8%

The company's 50 day moving average price is $317.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $237.27. The stock has a market cap of $166.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.10.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's payout ratio is 2.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $9,616,638.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total transaction of $2,501,349.48. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 121,682 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,643,630.14. This represents a 7.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 97,385 shares of company stock worth $29,499,874 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV bought a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at $276,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at $35,000. PeakShares LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at $135,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD bought a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter valued at $66,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

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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