Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Holdings Boosted by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 166,891 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,046 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Western Digital were worth $9,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,459,767 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,531,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,149 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,572,686 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $926,879,000 after buying an additional 423,651 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,921,608 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $539,355,000 after buying an additional 76,781 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at $352,572,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,980,047 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $177,700,000 after acquiring an additional 586,924 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,659 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total value of $68,616.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,776 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,575.36. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Western Digital from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.21.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $30.54 on Friday. Western Digital Co. has a 1-year low of $29.76 and a 1-year high of $81.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $52.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 1.39.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.36). Western Digital had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 15.68%. On average, equities analysts predict that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.