Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Up 4.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) rose 4.1% on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $78.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Western Digital traded as high as $59.07 and last traded at $59.74. Approximately 575,421 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 6,451,101 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.41.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on Western Digital from $72.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.79.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total transaction of $94,887.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $548,354.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,353 shares of company stock valued at $657,454 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elequin Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.50. The company has a market capitalization of $20.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a return on equity of 20.58% and a net margin of 13.33%. The company had revenue of ($1,465.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.58%.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.