Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price

Key Points

• Barclays increased its price target for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from $50.00 to $80.00, maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• Western Digital recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.66 EPS, exceeding estimates and showcasing a 30% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company has initiated a $2.00 billion share buyback plan to repurchase up to 11.7% of its outstanding shares, indicating management's confidence in the stock's value.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $50.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the data storage provider's stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WDC. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $45.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.74.

Western Digital Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of WDC stock traded down $1.45 on Friday, reaching $75.84. 5,196,851 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,041,504. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $78.80. The company has a market capitalization of $26.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.58. The business's 50 day moving average price is $62.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.84.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total value of $94,887.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 102.5% during the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 399 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. CNB Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

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.