Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report)’s stock price traded down 1.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $465.00 and last traded at $482.1970. 6,949,270 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average session volume of 9,206,931 shares. The stock had previously closed at $489.15.
Western Digital News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was named to the 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index North America, highlighting its ESG and sustainable AI infrastructure leadership. The company also said the index inclusion and improved operating profile reflect its growing role in AI data storage demand. WD Named to 2026 S&P Dow Jones Best‑in‑Class Index North America, Recognizing Leadership in Sustainable AI Infrastructure
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to point to Western Digital’s AI storage exposure, with articles citing surging earnings, rising hyperscaler demand, and stronger shareholder returns after the SanDisk spinoff as reasons the stock has been trending higher. WDC’s Whopping 893% Run in a Year: Buy the Stock Amid AI Storage Boom?
- Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a 20% dividend increase, which investors may view as a sign of confidence in cash flow and capital returns alongside record AI-related demand for its storage and data platforms. Western Digital Links Higher Dividend And ESG Index Win To AI Demand
- Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital is also showing up on “trending stock” lists, suggesting elevated investor interest, but these mentions do not add new fundamental information by themselves. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Western Digital Corporation (WDC) is a Trending Stock
- Neutral Sentiment: A separate note said Western Digital’s price target was raised, which can support sentiment but is still secondary to the bigger AI-storage and capital-return story. Western Digital (WDC) price target increased by 31.02% to 483.72
- Negative Sentiment: No major company-specific negative catalyst emerged in the latest headlines, though some coverage compares Western Digital with peers such as Micron and Seagate, which keeps valuation and competition in focus. Why I’d Rather Own Micron Stock Than Sandisk
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $335.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $405.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Argus set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $310.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.83.
Western Digital Trading Down 1.4%
The business’s 50 day moving average is $347.73 and its 200 day moving average is $255.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.79 and a beta of 2.10.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. The firm’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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 2.99%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital
In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 53,679 shares of company stock valued at $18,049,314 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital
Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Western Digital by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,196,484,000 after buying an additional 243,177 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $791,317,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $456,884,000 after purchasing an additional 384,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,804,907 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $456,737,000 after purchasing an additional 402,981 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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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