Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $145.00 to $230.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Western Digital traded as high as $236.88 and last traded at $240.5140, with a volume of 2245291 shares. The stock had previously closed at $222.97.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Western Digital to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday. Mizuho set a $240.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $165.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.76.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total value of $3,013,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,265,422.23. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 2,801 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.57, for a total transaction of $449,756.57. Following the transaction, the insider owned 144,596 shares in the company, valued at $23,217,779.72. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 26,369 shares of company stock worth $4,013,785 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages raised price targets and reiterated buy ratings (Bank of America, Rosenblatt, Citigroup), lifting investor expectations for upside. Bank of America resets WDC price target
• Positive Sentiment: Macro/sector analysis argues a structural “storage” trade is underway: constrained supply of standard NAND and HDD capacity plus surging AI data needs are supporting pricing power and margin expansion for storage suppliers like WDC. Western Digital: The Storage Sugar High
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and industry pieces are lifting earnings expectations and framing WDC as a beneficiary of AI infrastructure spend, supporting valuation re-rates. Western Digital (WDC) Valuation Check As Analyst Upgrades And AI Storage Optimism Drive Earnings Expectations
• Neutral Sentiment: Company event — WDC will host an Innovation Day on Feb 3 (webcast) to highlight AI-focused product roadmaps; could provide fresh detail that moves the stock depending on announcements. Western Digital to Host Innovation Day 2026 in New York City
• Neutral Sentiment: Retail/promotions: a consumer discount on a WD_Black Xbox expansion card is unlikely to move the enterprise storage thesis, but is worth noting for consumer product trends. WD_Black 1TB Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Drops to $0.15 per GB With Its First Discount of the Year
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation caution: several commentators ask whether WDC’s huge one‑year rally leaves it vulnerable to a pullback — argues that part of the move may be priced for perfection and that momentum could reverse if growth signs fade. Has Western Digital (WDC) Run Too Far After Its 339% One Year Surge?
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution pieces note that while AI demand is real, cyclical demand swings and stretched multiples raise pullback risk; some Seeking Alpha analysis explicitly flags a possible near-term retracement. Disk Maker Western Digital Rides The AI Wave, But A Pullback Could Occur

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 124.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 102.5% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 399 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 86.9% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 551.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 7.7%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $82.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.98, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.78.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 30.89% and a net margin of 21.37%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.730-2.030 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th were given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 7.28%.

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.