Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Up 6.8% – What’s Next?

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) traded up 6.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $181.49 and last traded at $177.5090. 1,317,957 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 8,254,721 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $105.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $180.00 target price on Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 31st. China Renaissance began coverage on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $193.00 price target for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Western Digital from $170.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.65.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $152.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.82.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter. Western Digital had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 30.89%. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 4th. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total value of $277,956.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,524.46. This trade represents a 31.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total transaction of $3,013,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 645,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,265,422.23. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,369 shares of company stock worth $4,013,785. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 8.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,933,278 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $118,574,000 after purchasing an additional 216,387 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 0.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 107,187 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,334,000 after buying an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 91.2% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,279 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Western Digital by 1.5% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $139,476,000 after acquiring an additional 52,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CW Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at $563,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.