Analysts Set Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target at $78.39

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $78.3889.

WDC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Western Digital from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Benchmark upped their price objective on Western Digital from $58.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC traded down $1.18 on Friday, hitting $75.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,258,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,714,322. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $78.80. The company has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.58. The stock's 50-day moving average is $66.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.51. 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 (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

Western Digital announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 5,597 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.26, for a total value of $426,827.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 154,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,795,820.54. This represents a 3.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,518 shares of company stock valued at $831,479. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth about $6,365,000. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 35,044 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,090,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855 shares during the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $292,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 14,330 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $854,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 71.8% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 496,326 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $29,596,000 after acquiring an additional 207,406 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.