Key Points
- Insider selling: Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 4,674 WDC shares on May 4 at an average of $443.19 for about $2.07M, trimming her stake by 4.93% to 90,041 shares; CEO Irving Tan also sold 20,000 shares under a pre-arranged 10b5‑1 plan.
- Strong results and bullish analyst reaction: WDC topped Q3 estimates with EPS of $2.72 and revenue of $3.34B (up 45.5% YoY), set Q4 FY2026 guidance of $3.10–$3.40 EPS, and saw its stock rise ~5.2% as multiple firms raised price targets (up to $500) with a consensus near $396.
- Dividend increase and heavy institutional ownership: The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 (from $0.13), implying a $0.60 annualized payout (~0.1% yield), and institutional investors hold roughly 92.5% of the stock.
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total value of $2,071,470.06. Following the sale, the insider owned 90,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,905,270.79. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.
Western Digital Stock Up 5.2%
WDC opened at $465.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $317.92 and a 200-day moving average of $237.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.60 and a 12-month high of $480.11.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital's revenue for the quarter 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. On average, analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.99%.
Institutional Trading of Western Digital
Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 9.2% during the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,707 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its stake 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 worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,982 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WDC shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Western Digital from $335.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded Western Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday. Finally, Argus set a $300.00 price target on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $395.83.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on WDC
More Western Digital News
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat and upbeat guidance — WDC reported a Q3 EPS beat and raised its Q4 FY2026 EPS range, showing strong margin expansion and accelerating revenue tied to AI/data-center demand. Western Digital Stock Surges After Q3 Beat
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness & higher price targets — Multiple outlets and analysts have lifted targets (including big calls toward the $500+ area), reinforcing momentum and giving investors upside conviction. AI Boom Drives Western Digital Toward $500 Target
- Positive Sentiment: Dividend hike & valuation narratives — Coverage highlights a 20% dividend increase and improved valuation metrics tied to AI storage demand, attracting income and growth investors. Western Digital Valuation Check
- Positive Sentiment: Sector tailwind from SanDisk’s breakout — SanDisk (spun off from WDC) has surged, underscoring strong demand for memory/storage in AI data centers and supporting bullish sentiment across storage peers. SanDisk Spun Off From Western Digital
- Neutral Sentiment: Investor events & conference appearance — WDC presented at Barclays’ conference (transcript available), which helps transparency and investor outreach but is informational rather than catalytic. Barclays Conference Transcript
- Neutral Sentiment: Media coverage & screening interest — Multiple “is it a buy?” and trending-stock writeups (Zacks, Yahoo) are increasing visibility but don’t by themselves change fundamentals. Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish on WDC?
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan (filing available); while planned sales are common and he retains a large stake, markets often view insider selling as a modest negative signal. Irving Tan SEC Filing
- Negative Sentiment: Additional insider sale — Insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares; another small reduction in insider holdings that may be noted by investors. V. Gubbi SEC Filing
Western Digital Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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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