Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock to $325.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Western Digital traded as high as $294.24 and last traded at $273.1040, with a volume of 2330361 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $270.23.

WDC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $200.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Western Digital to $306.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $165.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total transaction of $277,956.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,524.46. This represents a 31.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 1,768 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value of $272,272.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,090. This represents a 33.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,816 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,348. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board approves an extra $4 billion for share repurchases as AI demand lifts memory-chip sales — management cited strong demand from AI server customers, which supports both revenue outlook and capital-return plans. Western Digital adds $4 billion to buyback plan as AI boosts memory chip sales
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raising targets and upgrading the stock — recent price-target increases and buy ratings (Citigroup and others) signal improved sell-side expectations for growth and margins. Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $335.00
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks added WDC to its Rank #1 (Strong Buy) growth list, increasing visibility among growth-focused investors. Best Growth Stocks to Buy for February 3rd
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile media/TV mentions (Jim Cramer) and investor commentary highlight WDC as a top performer, which can attract retail buying and momentum flows. Jim Cramer Notes “Western Digital Stock Has Been One of the Best Performers of This Era”
• Neutral Sentiment: Company rang the NASDAQ opening bell — a PR/visibility event that supports investor awareness but has limited direct financial impact. Western Digital Rings the Opening Bell
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage noting recent stock jump ahead of a business update — reflects positioning by traders ahead of the company’s analyst meeting/business update rather than new fundamental news. Western Digital (WDC) Soars 8% Ahead of Business Update

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after buying an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 229.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $307,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.6% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 46,586 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at $83,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $195.99 and a 200 day moving average of $139.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $96.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.78.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.02%.

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.