Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Shares Up 10% – Here’s What Happened

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX)’s share price traded up 10% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $568.89 and last traded at $551.72. 7,592,455 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 67% from the average session volume of 4,558,960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $501.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on STX. Summit Insights downgraded shares of Seagate Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Seagate Technology from $1,095.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Seagate Technology from $865.00 to $820.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $1,350.00 price target on Seagate Technology in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Seagate Technology from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 26th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Seagate Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,000.88.

Seagate Technology Stock Down 3.4%

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $746.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $697.37. The firm has a market cap of $120.91 billion, a PE ratio of 27.55 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The data storage provider reported $7.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.44 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.15 billion. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 252.47%. The firm’s revenue was up 61.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.61 EPS. Analysts expect that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 37.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 23rd will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 23rd. This is a positive change from Seagate Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Seagate Technology’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Seagate Technology

In other Seagate Technology news, EVP John Morris sold 15,466 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $772.15, for a total transaction of $11,942,071.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,132 shares in the company, valued at $24,038,573.80. This represents a 33.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP Ban Teh sold 52,730 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $782.08, for a total transaction of $41,239,078.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,884.80. This trade represents a 90.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 439,747 shares of company stock valued at $349,271,735. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Seagate Technology

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 103.2% in the third quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 29,033 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $26,778,000 after purchasing an additional 14,743 shares during the last quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Seagate Technology by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC increased its position in Seagate Technology by 45.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,502,000 after buying an additional 843 shares during the period. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Seagate Technology by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 318 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 23.3% during the third quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 784 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.