Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives $534.56 Average Price Target from Brokerages

by · The Cerbat Gem

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $534.56.

A number of research firms recently commented on WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on WDC

Western Digital Stock Performance

WDC stock opened at $473.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $474.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $462.70. The firm has a market cap of $163.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 2.13. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $105.42 and a 1 year high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital’s revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Western Digital will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 432 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.20, for a total value of $194,918.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 111,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,096,736. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,052,185.77. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 25,437 shares of company stock valued at $11,461,345 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $788,729,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,602,927,000. National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 267.6% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,691,659 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $291,422,000 after buying an additional 1,231,477 shares during the last quarter. Anther Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $901,601,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $885,565,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

About Western Digital

(Get Free Report)

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.

See Also