Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Stock Falls 1.2% – Here’s Why

Shares of Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX) dropped 1.2% on Friday. The company traded as low as $449.28 and last traded at $460.99. 8,210,860 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 81% from the average daily volume of 4,531,671 shares. The stock had previously closed at $466.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Summit Insights lowered shares of Seagate Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $1,300.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Seagate Technology from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Seagate Technology from $925.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Seagate Technology in a report on Monday. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Seagate Technology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,000.88.

Seagate Technology Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $777.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $693.14. The company has a market capitalization of $105.82 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.82.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The data storage provider reported $7.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.44 by $0.24. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 252.47%. The business had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 61.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 37.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 23rd will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from Seagate Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 23rd. Seagate Technology’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Seagate Technology

In other Seagate Technology news, CEO William Mosley sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $622.82, for a total value of $4,185,350.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 346,108 shares in the company, valued at $215,562,984.56. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Morris sold 2,675 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $650.15, for a total value of $1,739,151.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,933 shares in the company, valued at $13,609,589.95. This trade represents a 11.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 447,108 shares of company stock valued at $356,049,743 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Seagate Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STX. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 2.7% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 28,769 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,762,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the period. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 5,655 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,216,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 466.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,873 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $6,340,000 after purchasing an additional 5,659 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Seagate Technology by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 748,798 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $690,316,000 after purchasing an additional 55,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. increased its stake in Seagate Technology by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. now owns 60,385 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $55,654,000 after purchasing an additional 4,204 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

About Seagate Technology

Seagate Technology develops and supplies data-storage products and solutions for businesses and consumers. Its portfolio includes hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives, and storage systems designed for applications ranging from personal computing to large-scale data centers.

The company’s products support cloud and enterprise storage, network-attached storage, video surveillance, gaming, and other uses that require digital data to be stored and accessed. Seagate also offers data-management and storage services through its Lyve platform.

Founded in 1979, Seagate has a long history in the hard disk drive industry.