Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading 1.7% Higher – Still a Buy?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WDC. Mizuho set a $590.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Summit Insights lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $485.31 and a 200-day moving average of $456.14.

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. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,052,185.77. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the sale, 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 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 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $788,729,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,602,927,000. Anther Capital Ltd bought a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth $901,601,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter worth $885,565,000. Finally, Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital in the first quarter worth $350,403,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Western Digital

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.