Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Up 5.6% After Analyst Upgrade

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shares rose 5.6% on Monday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $135.00 to $180.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Western Digital traded as high as $157.32 and last traded at $158.5610. Approximately 5,294,653 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 8,303,567 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.21.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $115.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Western Digital from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total transaction of $28,557.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,425 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,682.50. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total transaction of $1,024,159.47. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 151,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,687,602.84. The trade was a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,921,594. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 124.5% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, JNBA Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Stock Up 4.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.36, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $110.20 and a 200-day moving average of $77.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. Research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 5.82%.

About Western Digital

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.