Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Down 4.9% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) fell 4.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $449.21 and last traded at $450.31. 7,110,551 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 8,578,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at $473.69.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 target price on Western Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $474.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $462.70. The firm has a market cap of $155.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The business’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total value of $825,466.65. Following the transaction, the insider owned 80,571 shares in the company, valued at $37,052,185.77. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 25,437 shares of company stock valued at $11,461,345 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 87,122 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $55,647,000 after purchasing an additional 21,337 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $6,698,000 after buying an additional 2,142 shares during the last quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 112.8% in the 2nd quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $816,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,263 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $11,026,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 480.4% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) develops, manufactures and sells data storage products and solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises, businesses and consumers. Its portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs), including high-capacity enterprise drives used in cloud and data center environments, as well as products for network-attached storage, surveillance and personal computing.

The company markets products under brands including Western Digital, WD, WD_BLACK and Ultrastar.