Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Up 1.7% – Here’s Why

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s share price rose 1.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $433.20 and last traded at $423.87. 6,658,993 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 22% from the average daily volume of 8,568,164 shares. The stock had previously closed at $416.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Fox Advisors cut shares of Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $590.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $485.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $456.14. The firm has a market cap of $146.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the sale, the insider owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at $53,650,465.80. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,437 shares of company stock valued at $11,461,345. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 112.8% during the 2nd quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $11,026,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 480.4% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at $384,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd raised 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 valued at $15,490,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.