Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) CEO Irving Tan Sells 20,000 Shares

12 Aug 2026, 23:08 by Amy Steele · The Cerbat Gem

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Western Digital Trading Up 3.7%

WDC traded up $16.17 on Wednesday, reaching $454.10. The stock had a trading volume of 5,736,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,496,960. Western Digital Corporation has a 12-month low of $73.14 and a 12-month high of $799.87. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $558.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $423.11. The company has a market cap of $156.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 18.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Fox Advisors downgraded shares of Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.

Read Our Latest Research Report on WDC

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 28.6% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC grew its position in Western Digital by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 45.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

Positive Sentiment: AI-driven storage demand is supporting the sector. A reported deepening memory shortage and a neocloud company’s results highlighted continued spending on AI infrastructure, lifting expectations for demand for Western Digital’s hard-disk drives and NAND products. Memory shortage article
Positive Sentiment: Higher-capacity drives are improving margins. Favorable pricing, lower costs, and new ePMR products are helping Western Digital expand margins, while demand for high-capacity drives remains strong. Western Digital margin article
Positive Sentiment: Cash flow provides a fundamental catalyst. Western Digital generated approximately $3.5 billion in fiscal 2026 free cash flow, driven by stronger demand, pricing, and high-capacity drives. Investors are now assessing whether that momentum can continue into fiscal 2027. Western Digital free cash flow article
Positive Sentiment: Valuation and momentum views remain supportive. One valuation update raised Western Digital’s estimated fair value from $584.79 to $662.13, while momentum screens continued to identify WDC as a potential 2026 outperformer. Western Digital fair value article
Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains broadly favorable, with the average brokerage recommendation equivalent to “Buy,” although the reliability of consensus ratings can be limited when expectations are already optimistic. Western Digital analyst recommendations
Negative Sentiment: The main risks are execution during technology transitions and uncertainty over how long elevated storage pricing and AI-related demand will translate into higher margins. Investors are also questioning whether fiscal 2026’s exceptional cash-flow growth is sustainable.

Western Digital Company Profile

(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.