Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Up 2% – What’s Next?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shares traded up 2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $475.66 and last traded at $473.69. 4,990,529 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 8,587,012 shares. The stock had previously closed at $464.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 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 assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.8%

The company has a market cap of $157.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 2.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $474.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $464.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The company’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 2.48%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 Tregillis sold 432 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.20, for a total transaction of $194,918.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 111,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,096,736. This represents a 0.39% 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 25,437 shares of company stock worth $11,461,345 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 32.4% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 87,122 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $55,647,000 after buying an additional 21,337 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $6,698,000 after acquiring an additional 2,142 shares in the last quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 112.8% in 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 raised its position 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 worth $11,026,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 480.4% during the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.