Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shares gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $200.46, but opened at $193.50. Western Digital shares last traded at $202.2730, with a volume of 981,304 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Western Digital in a report on Friday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $193.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark raised their price target on Western Digital from $115.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Western Digital from $105.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.50.

Western Digital Trading Up 5.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.78.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 30.89% and a net margin of 21.37%.Western Digital has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.730-2.030 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 4th. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 7.28%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total transaction of $277,956.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,524.46. This represents a 31.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 2,801 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.57, for a total value of $449,756.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 144,596 shares in the company, valued at $23,217,779.72. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,369 shares of company stock valued at $4,013,785. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after buying an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 229.7% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $7,641,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 77.2% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 3,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 112.0% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,524 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 2,918 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.