Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Hits New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Western Digital hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $510.97 after closing at $480.00, reflecting strong recent momentum in the stock.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive: the consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with several firms raising price targets, including Cantor Fitzgerald at $660 and TD Cowen at $500.
• The company posted a strong quarter, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.13 to $0.15 per share.

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $510.97 and last traded at $507.4710, with a volume of 1164081 shares. The stock had previously closed at $480.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Susquehanna restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $395.83.

Western Digital Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $176.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.44 and a beta of 2.10. The business's 50-day moving average is $325.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.16.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is 2.99%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 363 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.09, for a total transaction of $136,883.67. Following the sale, the insider owned 120,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,259,473.07. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,679 shares of company stock worth $18,049,314. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 132 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 80.2% during the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage devices and systems for personal, enterprise and cloud applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company develops hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), NAND flash components and finished storage products used in PCs, external storage, servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and embedded systems.

Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial markets, including internal and external HDDs and SSDs, removable flash memory products and storage platforms for data center and enterprise environments.

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