Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Up 7.5% – Here’s Why
by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat GemWestern Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report)’s share price traded up 7.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $297.56 and last traded at $290.95. 10,667,068 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 10,596,344 shares. The stock had previously closed at $270.57.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $265.58.
Get Our Latest Report on Western Digital
Western Digital Trading Down 0.9%
The stock has a 50-day moving average of $236.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.14. The company has a market cap of $94.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.
Western Digital Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. 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 currently 5.02%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital
In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 6,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $1,833,922.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 136,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,932,163.62. This trade represents a 4.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total transaction of $5,108,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,288,807.84. This trade represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 67,606 shares of company stock worth $17,296,369. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital
A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WDC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,019 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 229.7% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $307,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $618,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 16,322 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,044,000 after acquiring an additional 3,758 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.
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.