Insider Selling: Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Insider Sells $2,071,470.06 in Stock
by Doug Wharley · The Cerbat GemWestern Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total value of $2,071,470.06. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares in the company, valued at $39,905,270.79. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.
Western Digital Trading Down 4.0%
WDC opened at $463.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $159.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.70, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.10. Western Digital Corporation has a 12 month low of $43.88 and a 12 month high of $483.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $325.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $242.16.
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 the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.
Western Digital Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.99%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Western Digital by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 52,317 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $6,281,000 after purchasing an additional 5,731 shares during the period. LBP AM SA acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth about $641,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,244,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 75.4% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 4,068 shares during the period. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 399.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,900,000 after acquiring an additional 25,987 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.
Trending Headlines about Western Digital
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts are lifting forecasts and price targets on stronger AI/data‑center storage demand; BofA and others raised targets and earnings estimates, supporting higher valuation expectations. BofA Lifts PT on Western Digital
- Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat and upward guidance momentum: recent earnings beats and upward EPS guidance revisions have prompted estimate upgrades from research shops (Zacks, others), underpinning bullish sentiment. Earnings Estimates Rising for WDC
- Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase: WDC raised its quarterly payout to $0.15 (20% hike), signaling confidence and attracting yield‑sensitive and income‑plus‑growth investors, though yield remains small. Western Digital Dividend Increase
- Positive Sentiment: Share-swap to unwind SanDisk stake: WDC is exchanging Sandisk shares for WDC stock as it exits the remaining Sandisk position — a move that simplifies capital structure and may increase WDC’s pure‑play valuation. Western Digital Share Swap
- Neutral Sentiment: Sector supply dynamics: reporting suggests AI-driven memory tightness could keep pricing elevated (benefit to margins), while some consumer SSD discounts appear episodic — supportive but mixed for near‑term revenue mix. AI and Memory Prices
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: senior executives, including CEO Irving Tan and other officers, have sold shares recently (pre‑arranged plans and filings). Markets often view sizeable or clustered insider sales as a negative near term catalyst. Irving Tan Share Sale
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. New Street Research set a $250.00 price target on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Western Digital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Zacks Research lowered Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Western Digital from $405.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.83.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Western Digital
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.