Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Given New $340.00 Price Target at Mizuho

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective upped by Mizuho to $340.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on WDC. Benchmark increased their price target on Western Digital from $115.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Truist Financial set a $310.00 price target on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.25.

Western Digital Stock Up 7.4%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $290.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $98.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $296.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $198.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $140.59.

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

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 5.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 1,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value of $272,272.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,585 shares in the company, valued at $552,090. The trade was a 33.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total transaction of $277,956.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,863 shares in the company, valued at $596,524.46. This trade represents a 31.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,816 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,348. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Avion Wealth increased its holdings in Western Digital by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 124.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

More Western Digital News

Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorizes an additional $4 billion buyback — management flagged capital return and confidence in the valuation, a direct support for the stock and EPS accretion that pushed shares up in early trading. Western Digital adds $4 billion to buyback plan as AI boosts memory chip sales
• Positive Sentiment: Innovation Day: WD unveiled a roadmap toward 100+ TB HDDs and AI‑optimized drive features — product-era relevance for hyperscalers and data lakes strengthens long‑term TAM and margin improvement potential. Western Digital Accelerates Storage Innovation for AI Era
• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings/guidance backdrop and sector momentum — coverage citing robust results and AI‑driven demand for memory/storage supports repeat buying from institutions and analysts. ‘All Boats Are Rising’ in Data and Memory, Says Western Digital’s CFO
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness — Citigroup upgraded/raised its target and other sell‑side notes flag upside, reinforcing investor demand and validating management’s buyback. Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/regulatory context — U.S. plans to rebuild critical‑minerals supply chains outside China are unfolding; this is a long‑term supply‑chain factor that could help the broader memory/storage complex but is not an immediate earnings driver for WDC. Trump administration presses efforts to ensure supply of critical minerals outside of China
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry rotation theme: market commentary frames a “memory supercycle” and the SanDisk spin‑out as supporting demand for both flash (SanDisk) and high‑capacity HDDs (WDC); this is constructive for WDC structurally but is a thematic (rather than single‑quarter) tailwind. The Memory Supercycle Is Here—2 Winners From 1 Breakup
• Negative Sentiment: Volatility and rotation risk from SanDisk’s huge moves — extreme swings in SanDisk (the spun‑off flash business) can create short‑term sentiment-driven volatility across memory stocks, which could cause intermittent pullbacks in WDC despite solid fundamentals. Sandisk’s Swings Are Getting Bigger – Here’s How to Play Them

Western Digital Company Profile

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.