Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) stock jumped 1.09% on Thursday to $43.69 against a previous-day closing price of $43.22. With 2.49 million shares changed hands, the volume of the stock remained lighter than its average volume of 3.33 million shares. During the session, the Computer Hardware company that operates in wider Technology sector, reached to the highest price of $43.86 whereas the lowest price it dropped to was $43.14. The 52-week range on WDC shows that it touched its highest point at $46.33 and its lowest point at $29.73 during that stretch. It currently has a 1-year price target of $46.43. Beta for the stock currently stands at 1.67.
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Price Performance and Earnings:
Stock performance is one of the indicators that investors use to determine whether they will profit from a stock. The price performance of WDC was up-trending over the past week, with a rise of 0.60%, but this was up by 6.43% over a month. Three-month performance surged to 7.98% while six-month performance rose 27.04%. The stock gained 11.11% in the past year, while it has gained 38.48% so far this year. A look at the trailing 12-month EPS for WDC yields -5.43 with Next year EPS estimates of 3.59. For the next quarter, that number is -1.90. This implies an EPS growth rate of -214.60% for this year and 188.20% for next year.
Float and Shares Shorts:
At present, 321.90 million WDC shares are outstanding with a float of 321.12 million shares on hand for trading. On Aug 14, 2023, short shares totaled 7.21 million, which was 2.24% higher than short shares on Jul 13, 2023. In addition to Mr. David V. Goeckeler as the firm’s CEO & Director, Mr. Wissam G. Jabre serves as its Exec. VP & CFO.
Institutional Ownership:
Through their ownership of 88.60% of WDC’s outstanding shares, institutional investors have majority control over the company. Other institutions hold 5.86% of WDC, in contrast to 46.10% held by mutual funds. Shares owned by individuals account for 39.60%. As the largest shareholder in WDC with 11.63% of the stake, The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds 37,207,875 shares worth 37,207,875. A second-largest stockholder of WDC, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., holds 23,586,069 shares, controlling over 7.37% of the firm’s shares. BlackRock Fund Advisors is the third largest shareholder in WDC, holding 16,581,403 shares or 5.18% stake. With a 3.11% stake in WDC, the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF is the largest stakeholder. A total of 9,957,005 shares are owned by the mutual fund manager. The T Rowe Price Mid Cap Value Fund, which owns about 2.50% of WDC stock, is the second-largest Mutual Fund holder. It holds 8,006,548 shares valued at 340.76 million. Vanguard 500 Index Fund holds 2.39% of the stake in WDC, owning 7,660,689 shares worth 326.04 million.
An Overview of Recent Financials:
Understanding a company as a customer does not mean you will understand it as an investor. The wise investor uses quantitative research to analyze metrics such as revenue, net income, and earnings. In its fiscal quarter reported on Jun 29, 2023, WDC reported revenue of $4.53B and operating income of $581.00M. The EBITDA in the recently reported quarter was $802.00M and diluted EPS was $0.95.
Analysts Ratings:
Reading analyst opinions is an effective way to decide where to invest, and there are several opinions available for WDC since 0 analysts follow the stock currently. In the same way, a target price assigned to a stock can also reveal much about its potential. With WDC analysts setting a high price target of $60.00 and a low target of $31.00, the average target price over the next 12 months is $45.43. Based on these targets, WDC could surge 37.33% to reach the target high and fall by -29.05% to reach the target low. Reaching the average price target will result in a growth of 3.98% from current levels.
EPS: Estimates vs Actual
It is also common to use earnings estimates to evaluate a firm’s growth potential and to determine trading strategy.
Dividends & Yield:
In terms of dividends, WDC has a dividend of $1.81 is likely to be paid on average over the next five years. Dividend yield is another indicator that appeals to many investors, and WDC currently yields $0.70. In the past year, WDC’s dividend yield has been $0.70, but when looking at the stock over the past five years, its yield has been $3.21. Accordingly, WDC has a current buyback yield of $0.00. This was $0.00 for the TTM, and it was $2.26 for the past five years.
Summary of Insider Activity:
Insiders traded WDC stock several times over the past three months with 4 Buys and 10 Sells. In these transactions, 153,039 shares were bought while 89,054 shares were sold. The number of buy transactions has increased to 13 while that of sell transactions has risen to 35 over the past year. The total number of shares bought during that period was 211,941 while 394,355 shares were sold.
