Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Here’s Why

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shot up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $461.98 and last traded at $456.81. 5,863,037 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 8,559,201 shares. The stock had previously closed at $450.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.4%

The firm has a market cap of $157.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 2.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $474.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $464.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. Western Digital’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 25,437 shares of company stock valued at $11,461,345 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Western Digital

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.