Key Points
- Western Digital insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 214 shares for about $115,480.82 in a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 transaction. After the sale, she still held 117,157 shares, so the trade was a very small reduction in ownership.
- The company recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $2.72 EPS versus the $2.39 consensus, and revenue of $3.34 billion topped estimates as well. Quarterly revenue also jumped 45.5% year over year.
- Western Digital raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share from $0.13, payable on June 17. The stock has also been benefiting from a strong AI-driven memory and storage rally, with several analysts maintaining bullish outlooks.
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 214 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $539.63, for a total transaction of $115,480.82. Following the transaction, the insider owned 117,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,221,431.91. The trade was a 0.18% 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 link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Western Digital Price Performance
NASDAQ:WDC opened at $530.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $182.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.68 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital Corporation has a one year low of $51.17 and a one year high of $546.68. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $387.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $276.68.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 2.99%.
More Western Digital News
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Shares are benefiting from a strong sector-wide “memory melt-up,” with AI infrastructure demand supporting higher pricing power and improving earnings expectations for storage makers like Western Digital. Not Just Micron: Memory Melt-Up Pulls SanDisk Up 8%, Western Digital Up 10%
- Positive Sentiment: Evercore reportedly raised its price target on Western Digital to $575, calling the stock “underappreciated” as hard disk drives remain critical for AI data-center buildouts. Hard Disk Drives Are Critical for AI but Western Digital Stock Is Still Underappreciated Here
- Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlights Western Digital as a key beneficiary of the AI memory/storage supercycle, with investors searching the name more heavily after strong momentum in peers like Micron and SanDisk. Micron’s $1 Trillion Memory Melt-Up
- Neutral Sentiment: An insider sale by Cynthia L. Tregillis was disclosed, but it was small relative to her holdings and was made under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plan, so it is unlikely to be a major negative signal for investors. SEC filing
- Neutral Sentiment: Another insider sale was also reported the same day, adding to activity that may look cautious, but the transactions appear routine rather than clearly bearish. SEC filing
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital
Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 207.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
WDC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho set a $470.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $488.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.50.
View Our Latest Analysis on WDC
About Western Digital
(
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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