Brokers Issue Forecasts for Western Digital FY2025 Earnings

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) – Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald issued their FY2025 EPS estimates for shares of Western Digital in a report released on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C. Muse expects that the data storage provider will post earnings per share of $5.86 for the year. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a “Overweight” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Western Digital’s current full-year earnings is $5.54 per share.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 4.81%. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.97) earnings per share.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on WDC. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Benchmark cut shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.65.

Western Digital Trading Down 1.8 %

WDC opened at $67.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.47. Western Digital has a one year low of $52.77 and a one year high of $81.55. The company has a market cap of $23.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.65 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.03.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 124.2% in the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 11,860 shares during the last quarter. Avala Global LP lifted its stake in Western Digital by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $78,376,000 after buying an additional 377,500 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Western Digital by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $19,925,000 after buying an additional 47,965 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $18,917,000 after buying an additional 27,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 137.9% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,976,000 after acquiring an additional 25,262 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. The trade was a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total value of $46,053.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,121.37. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,107 shares of company stock worth $2,324,881 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.