Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Up 5.1% – What’s Next?

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) rose 5.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $289.87 and last traded at $286.21. Approximately 8,532,267 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 15% from the average daily volume of 10,020,561 shares. The stock had previously closed at $272.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus set a $300.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Western Digital to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.58.

Western Digital Stock Up 5.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $97.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $255.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.83.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The firm’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 5.02%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $9,616,638.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total value of $2,743,105.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 107,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,137,796.14. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 92,795 shares of company stock worth $24,265,884 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Avion Wealth raised its stake in Western Digital by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 124.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in Western Digital by 551.4% in the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.