CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Has $22.55 Million Position in Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 378,515 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 39,911 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned about 0.11% of Western Digital worth $22,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 278.9% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, S.A. Mason LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WDC. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $74.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wedbush reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, April 11th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $82.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.68.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.0 %

WDC traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.68. The stock had a trading volume of 5,073,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,360,171. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.73 and a beta of 1.39. Western Digital Co. has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $44.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 9.95%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Co. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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