Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $75.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Western Digital traded as high as $68.77 and last traded at $66.99, with a volume of 561160 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.74.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on WDC. Loop Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $85.00 price objective (up from $78.00) on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Benchmark raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. BNP Paribas reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Western Digital from $62.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.84.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total transaction of $94,887.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,353 shares of company stock valued at $657,454. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 26,415 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 6.2% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,465 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,817 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 19,124 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,140,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Trading Down 2.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The stock's 50-day moving average is $57.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.27. The stock has a market cap of $23.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 1.54.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.30. Western Digital had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The firm had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. Western Digital's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.58%.

Western Digital declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to buy up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.