Advisors Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Seagate Technology Holdings PLC $STX

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Seagate Technology by 8.6%, owning approximately 285,365 shares worth $24.24 million after selling 27,007 shares in the first quarter.
• Seagate Technology's stock opened at $193.04, with a market cap of $41.06 billion and a one-year high of $193.80, following a quarterly EPS of $2.59 that exceeded analysts' expectations.
• The company announced a $5 billion share buyback program, indicating the board's belief that the shares might be undervalued, alongside a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, giving an annual yield of 1.5%.

Advisors Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 285,365 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 27,007 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Seagate Technology worth $24,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology during the first quarter worth about $300,000. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology during the first quarter worth about $385,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 6.2% during the first quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 4,314 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 77.4% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 17,351 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 7,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panoramic Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 591.8% during the first quarter. Panoramic Capital LLC now owns 131,433 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $11,165,000 after purchasing an additional 112,433 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jay L. Geldmacher sold 2,500 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.50, for a total value of $376,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,976. The trade was a 87.66% 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. Also, EVP Ban Seng Teh sold 5,905 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $915,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $952,785. This trade represents a 49.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,078 shares of company stock worth $8,561,503 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Seagate Technology Stock Performance

Shares of Seagate Technology stock opened at $193.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $41.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $157.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.23. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC has a one year low of $63.19 and a one year high of $193.80.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. Seagate Technology had a negative return on equity of 169.60% and a net margin of 16.15%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 29.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. Seagate Technology has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to repurchase up to 21.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Seagate Technology's payout ratio is 42.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on STX. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Seagate Technology from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $175.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Benchmark raised their price target on Seagate Technology from $128.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup raised their price target on Seagate Technology from $167.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on Seagate Technology from $85.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Seagate Technology from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "negative" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Seagate Technology presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $157.00.

Seagate Technology Company Profile

Seagate Technology Holdings plc provides data storage technology and solutions in Singapore, the United States, the Netherlands, and internationally. It provides mass capacity storage products, including enterprise nearline hard disk drives (HDDs), enterprise nearline solid state drives (SSDs), enterprise nearline systems, video and image HDDs, and network-attached storage drives.

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