Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Down 4.9% – Here’s What Happened

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s share price fell 4.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $449.21 and last traded at $450.31. 7,110,551 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 8,578,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at $473.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 target price on shares of Western Digital and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Mizuho set a $590.00 price objective on Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $473.74 and its 200 day moving average is $464.09. The company has a market capitalization of $157.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.48%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total value of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 80,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,052,185.77. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 25,437 shares of company stock worth $11,461,345 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Western Digital by 32.4% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 87,122 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $55,647,000 after acquiring an additional 21,337 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $6,698,000 after acquiring an additional 2,142 shares in the last quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 112.8% in the 2nd quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,263 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $11,026,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 480.4% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) develops, manufactures and sells data storage products and solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises, businesses and consumers. Its portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs), including high-capacity enterprise drives used in cloud and data center environments, as well as products for network-attached storage, surveillance and personal computing.

The company markets products under brands including Western Digital, WD, WD_BLACK and Ultrastar.