Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) rose 1.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $428.14 and last traded at $416.97. 7,211,223 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 8,591,520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $411.96.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have recently commented on WDC. UBS Group dropped their price target on Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Fox Advisors cut Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Summit Insights downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on WDC
Western Digital Trading Up 1.2%
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Western Digital Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 2.48%.
Insider Transactions at Western Digital
In other news, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at $53,650,465.80. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, 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 sold a total of 25,437 shares of company stock worth $11,461,345 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 112.8% during the second quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 3.5% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,263 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $11,026,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 480.4% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Archford Capital Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $384,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its position in Western Digital by 1.3% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 24,252 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $15,490,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Western Digital Company Profile
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.
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