Wedbush Reiterates 'Outperform' Rating for Western Digital

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) has received renewed attention from analysts, specifically from Wedbush, which recently restated its "outperform" rating for the technology company's shares. In a research note released on Thursday, Wedbush set a price target of $95.00 for Western Digital, indicating a potential upside of approximately 47.85% from the current trading price of the company's stock.

A variety of other analysts have also shared their insights on Western Digital. For instance, BNP Paribas lowered its price target from $95.00 to $90.00 in a recent report. On the other hand, Susquehanna raised its target from $75.00 to $83.00, while giving Western Digital a "neutral" rating. Goldman Sachs took a more conservative approach, reducing their target from $81.00 to $70.00 and also labeling the stock as "neutral." In addition, Benchmark shifted its view, decreasing Western Digital's rating from "buy" to "hold" and setting a price target of $70.00. Mizuho recently adjusted its target from $90.00 to $82.00 while maintaining its "outperform" label for the stock.

Market data reveals that out of the analysts reviewing Western Digital, seven have issued hold ratings, while fourteen have given the stock a buy rating. As of now, the consensus rating is labeled as a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target set at $85.11.

Current Stock Performance

In terms of stock performance, WDC shares experienced a gain, increasing by $1.45 to reach $64.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday. In the course of trading, 4,383,616 shares changed hands, which is lower than the average trading volume of 6,000,446 shares. Over the past year, Western Digital's stock has seen a low of $52.77 and a high of $81.55. As of now, the company holds a market cap of $22.21 billion, with a price-to-earnings (PE) ratio of 38.14 and a beta of 1.43.

Western Digital's latest earnings report was unveiled on January 29th, revealing an earnings per share (EPS) figure of $1.55, which fell short of the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.36. The company’s return on equity stands at 8.57%, and its net profit margin is reported at 4.81%. Analysts are projecting that Western Digital will record an EPS of 5.54 for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news regarding insider trading, Gene M. Zamiska, a senior vice president at Western Digital, sold 658 shares on November 26th at an average price of $69.99, totaling a transaction value of $46,053.42. After this sale, Zamiska's remaining shareholding stands at approximately 28,863 shares, valued at about $2,020,121.37, marking a 2.23% decrease in his position. Over the past three months, insiders have sold a total of 1,347 shares valued at approximately $93,027, with 0.30% of the company’s stock currently held by insiders.

Institutional Investor Activity

Institutional investors have recently made adjustments to their holdings of Western Digital. For instance, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in WDC by 5.4% during the last quarter, now holding 2,929 shares valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares. Additionally, Mather Group LLC raised its position by 7.0%, while Quarry LP grew its stake by 22.6%. Presently, about 92.51% of the total stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation specializes in developing, manufacturing, and selling data storage devices and solutions, with operations across the United States, China, Europe, and beyond. They provide a range of products, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs) designed for personal computers, gaming consoles, and other digital applications.

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