Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Moved Up to Strong-Buy by Zacks Research

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

WDC has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Western Digital from $540.00 to $430.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $720.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $900.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $740.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.04.

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC stock opened at $323.83 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $414.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $418.54. The company has a market capitalization of $121.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.27. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $132.43 and a 52-week high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. Western Digital had a return on equity of 55.62% and a net margin of 69.20%. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 23.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total transaction of $306,660.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 108,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,392,640. This trade represents a 0.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 25,436 shares of company stock valued at $11,340,064 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 182.6% during the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 65 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 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: Western Digital’s latest earnings beat expectations, and its second-quarter outlook points to further margin growth. Strong pricing, demand for higher-capacity hard drives, and cloud and AI storage needs are cited as key supports. Western Digital’s Q1 beat and Q2 outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts view the recent pullback as a potential buying opportunity given earnings growth and cloud demand, though opinions are tempered by risks. Is the dip a buying opportunity?
• Negative Sentiment: Storage and memory shares sold off amid concerns about memory pricing and uncertainty around the U.S. election, even as the broader tech market rallied. Cautious commentary from a flash-memory maker also pressured the group, with concerns spilling over to WDC despite its hard-drive focus. Sector pressure from election and memory-price worries
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also weighing WDC’s premium valuation and the risk of executing its HAMR hard-drive technology roadmap, which could limit confidence despite strong results. Valuation and execution risks

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.