Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Mizuho Analyst Says

Key Points

• Mizuho raised its price target for Western Digital from $75.00 to $87.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.47% from the company's current price.
• The average rating for Western Digital is a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $78.74, alongside recent reports from other firms adjusting their price targets.
• Western Digital reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.66, exceeding estimates, and achieving a 30.0% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Mizuho from $75.00 to $87.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the data storage provider's stock.

WDC has been the subject of several other reports. TD Securities cut their price objective on Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BNP Paribas reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $53.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.74.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock traded down $2.00 on Friday, hitting $75.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,594,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,023,772. 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 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $78.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $62.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.84. The company has a market capitalization of $26.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.58.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The data storage provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Western Digital's revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to purchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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 issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 11,379 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total transaction of $548,354.01. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,481 shares in the company, valued at $29,178,129.39. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,729 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.88, for a total value of $94,887.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,938,495 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,736,003,000 after acquiring an additional 478,728 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,745,264 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $520,450,000 after acquiring an additional 823,656 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 130.0% in the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,029,359 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $203,337,000 after acquiring an additional 2,842,822 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,592,516 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $273,852,000 after acquiring an additional 881,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Western Digital by 1.5% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $139,476,000 after acquiring an additional 52,140 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently 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.