<div id="readability-page-1"><p>Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) rose 5.2% on Tuesday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $310.00 to $450.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Western Digital traded as high as $480.11 and last traded at $465.26. Approximately 9,610,669 shares were traded  during trading, an increase of 3% from the average daily volume of 9,367,516 shares. The stock had previously closed at $442.36.</p><div><p><span></span><span>Get <strong>Western Digital</strong> alerts:</span></p></div><ul><li>Memory Wipe: The Great TurboQuant Miscalculation</li></ul><p>Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a &#34;neutral&#34; rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $495.00 and gave the stock a &#34;buy&#34; rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a &#34;hold&#34; rating to a &#34;buy&#34; rating in a research report on Saturday. Wells Fargo &amp; Company lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $335.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an &#34;overweight&#34; rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley  reiterated an &#34;overweight&#34; rating and set a $488.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned  a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of &#34;Moderate Buy&#34; and an average target price of $395.83.</p><p><b>View Our Latest Analysis on Western Digital</b></p><h2>Insider Buying and Selling</h2><ul><li>3 Massive Buybacks That Map the Market’s Mood in 2026</li></ul><p>In related news, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $9,616,638.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities &amp; Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 363 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.09, for a total transaction of $136,883.67. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 120,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,259,473.07. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 72,711 shares of company stock worth $19,191,604. Corporate insiders own  0.18% of the company's stock. </p><h2>Key Stories Impacting Western Digital</h2><p>Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:</p><ul>   <li><span>Positive Sentiment: </span>Analysts and outlets lifting targets and reiterating a buy case on continued AI-driven HDD demand—247WallSt publishes a $513 (roughly $500) target, saying the AI upcycle and accelerating fundamentals support further upside. <i></i><span>AI Boom Drives Western Digital Toward $500 Target</span></li>    <li><span>Positive Sentiment: </span>Analyst re-ratings after the Q3 beat: multiple outlets report analysts raising targets (one report cites targets as high as $660) following better-than-expected EPS and margin expansion, supporting bullish momentum. <i></i><span>Western Digital Stock Surges as Analysts Set $660 Price Target</span></li>    <li><span>Positive Sentiment: </span>Robert W. Baird raised its price target to $450 and maintained an outperform rating—another institutional nod that reinforces buy-side conviction even after the recent run-up. <i></i><span>Price Target Raised to $450.00 at Robert W. Baird</span></li>    <li><span>Positive Sentiment: </span>Bullish media/TV commentary: Jim Cramer and other commentators are calling storage names like WDC “still having room to run,” which can amplify retail interest and momentum flows in the short term. <i></i><span>Jim Cramer Says 'Overheated' Storage Stocks Still Have Room To Run</span></li>    <li><span>Positive Sentiment: </span>Near-term corporate catalyst flagged: coverage notes a key June 5 date tied to dividend expectations—investors often trade on dividend hikes and yield re-rating for income-oriented chip/storage names. <i></i><span>Mark Your Calendars for June 5</span></li>    <li><span>Neutral Sentiment: </span>The Sandisk spinoff (SNDK) has exploded since separation, highlighting strong demand/value in flash/Ai-memory—this is positive for sector sentiment but mixed for WDC specifically since SanDisk was the carved-out business. <i></i><span>Sandisk Spun Off From Western Digital Just Last Year. Now It's a $200B Company.</span></li>    <li><span>Neutral Sentiment: </span>Coverage pieces (Zacks, TipRanks, Seeking Alpha, Barchart) are driving attention and debate over whether WDC’s run is sustainable; these articles summarize analyst expectations and relative positioning vs. Seagate without delivering new company-specific catalysts. <i></i><span>Seagate and Western Digital Are a Hard Disk Drive Duopoly</span></li>    <li><span>Neutral Sentiment: </span>“Undercovered” and thematic watchlist pieces highlight WDC as a widely watched trader favorite after the quarter; useful for sentiment tracking but not immediate fundamental news. <i></i><span>Undercovered Dozen: Western Digital</span></li> </ul><h2>Institutional Inflows and Outflows</h2><ul><li>Sandisk’s Swings Are Getting Bigger—Here’s How to Play Them </li></ul><p>Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in  Western Digital by 124.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter.  Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in  Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter.  Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its position 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 last quarter.  Westfuller Advisors LLC acquired a new position in  Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000.  Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its position in  Western Digital by 163.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own  92.51% of the company's stock. </p><h2>Western Digital Stock Performance</h2><p>The stock has a market cap of $157.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.49. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $314.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $234.84. </p><p>Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business's revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS.  Analysts forecast that  Western Digital Corporation will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current year. </p><h2>Western Digital Increases Dividend</h2><p>The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.58%. </p><h2>About Western Digital</h2> (Get Free Report)<p>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.  </p><p>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.</p><h2>Featured Stories</h2><ul><li>Five stocks we like better than Western Digital</li></ul><p><em>This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.</em></p><h2>Should You Invest $1,000 in Western Digital Right Now?</h2><p>Before you consider Western Digital, you'll want to hear this.</p><p>MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Western Digital wasn't on the list.</p><p>While Western Digital currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.</p><p>View The Five Stocks Here</p>                  </div>

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<p>Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) stock rose 5.2% after Robert W. Baird upgraded its price target from $310 to $450, maintaining an outperform rating. The stock traded as high as $480.11 and closed at $465.26, with a trading volume increase of 3%. Other analysts also raised their price targets, with UBS at $375, Bank of America at $495, and Wells Fargo at $500. Nineteen analysts rated the stock as a Buy, while four rated it as Hold, with an average target price of $395.83.</p>

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Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Up 5.2% on Analyst Upgrade