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

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $78.00 to $85.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Western Digital traded as high as $67.35 and last traded at $66.93, with a volume of 5099556 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $66.14.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WDC. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $62.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $80.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Summit Insights raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Western Digital from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,178,129.39. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 transaction of $94,887.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,200,084.32. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,353 shares of company stock worth $657,454. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 56.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,820 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 3,555 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,257,000. Avanza Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 25,258 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 78.0% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,676 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 2,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 6.2% during the 2nd 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. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $55.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.03. The stock has a market cap of $23.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of ($1,465.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is currently 7.58%.

Western Digital announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to repurchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership 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.

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