Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading 5% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Western Digital shares rose 5% after Susquehanna lifted its price target from $360 to $500, though it kept a neutral rating. The stock traded as high as $601.50 intraday, reflecting strong recent momentum.
• Analyst sentiment has improved broadly, with several firms raising targets and/or ratings as investors grow more optimistic about AI-driven storage demand. MarketBeat now shows an average rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $502.12.
• The company’s recent results were strong, as Western Digital reported Q4 earnings and revenue above expectations and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.12 to $0.15 per share. However, some caution remains since insider sales and the neutral rating suggest part of the rally may already be priced in.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) shares traded up 5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $360.00 to $500.00. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Western Digital traded as high as $601.50 and last traded at $578.05. Approximately 6,715,529 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 9,117,367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $550.30.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 target price on shares of Western Digital and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $502.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

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

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Memory and storage stocks reversed a recent selloff, lifting WDC along with peers such as Seagate, Micron, and SanDisk as investors rotated back into the AI storage theme. Western Digital and Seagate Surge 7%, Micron and SanDisk Climb 6% as Memory Selloff Reverses
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have turned more constructive on Western Digital, with recent reports highlighting rising price targets and a bullish view on AI-related storage demand. Western Digital gains as analysts turn more bullish on AI storage demand
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is also benefiting from confidence in its HAMR roadmap and long-term customer deals, which could support future hard drive capacity growth as AI data center demand expands. Will Western Digital's HAMR Push Accelerate Future Growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market coverage also points to a rebound in AI and memory names as investor sentiment improves after fears tied to geopolitical headlines eased. Lumentum, Sandisk, Applied Materials, AstraZeneca, and More Stocks That Explain Today’s Market
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary also notes that WDC has been a huge winner over the past year, reflecting strong momentum already built into the stock. WDC Stock Outshines Industry Returns in a Year: Should You Jump In?
• Negative Sentiment: Some caution remains because Susquehanna raised its target but kept a neutral rating, suggesting upside may already be partly priced in after the rally. Western Digital NASDAQ: WDC Price Target Raised to $500.00 at Susquehanna

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 28.6% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $199.24 billion, a PE ratio of 34.51 and a beta of 2.11. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $548.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $368.57.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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