Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $75.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Western Digital traded as high as $68.77 and last traded at $66.99, with a volume of 561160 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $68.74.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays set a $50.00 price target on shares of Western Digital and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total transaction of $94,887.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 34.1% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 242.2% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.4%

The firm has a market cap of $23.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $57.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 20.58% and a net margin of 13.33%. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.58%.

Western Digital declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to repurchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication 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.