Weiss Ratings Reiterates "Hold (C)" Rating for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reiterated a "Hold (C)" rating for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC), indicating a neutral outlook on the company’s stock.
• Several brokerages, including Wells Fargo and Bank of America, have set higher price targets for WDC shares, with average target now at $94.63, suggesting a generally positive sentiment among analysts.
• Western Digital reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $1.66, exceeding analysts' expectations, and its revenue increased by 30% year-over-year.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c)" rating reiterated by investment analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on WDC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $123.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Western Digital to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.63.

Western Digital Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of WDC stock traded up $0.96 on Wednesday, hitting $120.89. The stock had a trading volume of 5,426,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,190,153. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.77. The stock's 50 day moving average is $92.19 and its 200-day moving average is $65.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08. Western Digital has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $137.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.690 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 8,621 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total value of $654,333.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 594,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,148,052.40. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 11,343 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.29, for a total value of $1,024,159.47. Following the transaction, the insider owned 151,596 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,687,602.84. The trade was a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,921,594 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 102.5% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 399 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 86.9% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, CNB Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

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.

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