Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) fell 7.1% on Monday . The company traded as low as $505.19 and last traded at $505.9650. 1,202,330 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 8,876,134 shares. The stock had previously closed at $544.84.
Western Digital News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analysts remain broadly optimistic about Western Digital’s outlook after the stock significantly outperformed the broader market over the past year. Are Wall Street Analysts Predicting Western Digital Stock Will Climb or Sink?
- Positive Sentiment: Seagate Technology’s stronger-than-expected earnings report has increased expectations that Western Digital could also deliver a favorable quarterly update, given their exposure to similar storage-demand trends. Seagate Technology Is Soaring After Its Strong Earnings Report. Should You Buy Western Digital Before Its Earnings Report?
- Neutral Sentiment: Investors are weighing whether Western Digital remains a compelling buy ahead of earnings. The report is a near-term catalyst, but elevated expectations make the guidance and outlook particularly important. Is Western Digital Stock a Compelling Buy Ahead of Q4 Earnings Release?
- Negative Sentiment: Memory and storage shares are cooling after an exceptional rally, with Western Digital falling alongside Seagate, Micron, and other industry names. The sector-wide selling suggests profit-taking and reduced risk appetite rather than a company-specific development. Seagate and Western Digital Dive 6%, SK Hynix and Micron Slide 5% as Memory Stocks Cool
- Negative Sentiment: The broader memory-focused Roundhill Memory ETF has dropped sharply from its yearly high, reinforcing concerns about overheating valuations and volatility across the technology and memory markets. Top DRAM ETF Stocks to Watch This Week
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have commented on WDC. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.32.
Western Digital Stock Down 3.8%
The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $568.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $408.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.29 and a beta of 2.11.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.
Insider Activity at Western Digital
In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total value of $427,941.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 114,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,663,290.57. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,093 shares of company stock valued at $2,751,337. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Ares Financial Consulting LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 28.6% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 853.8% in the 1st quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 124 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Western Digital Company Profile
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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