Howard Capital Management Inc. Takes $290,000 Position in Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX)

Key Points

• Howard Capital Management Inc. has acquired a new stake in Seagate Technology, purchasing 3,418 shares valued at approximately $290,000 in the first quarter.
• Seagate Technology reported $2.59 earnings per share in its latest quarterly results, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.45, alongside a year-over-year revenue increase of 29.5%.
• The company's board has approved a $5.00 billion share buyback plan which allows for the repurchase of up to 21.6% of its outstanding shares, indicating confidence in the stock's value.

Howard Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,418 shares of the data storage provider's stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in STX. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in Seagate Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Seagate Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Seagate Technology during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Seagate Technology by 2,200.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 460 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Seagate Technology Price Performance

Seagate Technology stock opened at $157.01 on Friday. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC has a fifty-two week low of $63.19 and a fifty-two week high of $157.45. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $136.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Seagate Technology announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to purchase up to 21.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Seagate Technology's payout ratio is presently 42.54%.

Insider Activity at Seagate Technology

In other Seagate Technology news, EVP Ban Seng Teh sold 63,418 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $7,927,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,658 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,832,250. The trade was a 81.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO William D. Mosley sold 70,000 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.47, for a total transaction of $7,662,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 485,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,167,061.19. The trade was a 12.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 395,516 shares of company stock worth $47,831,398. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on STX. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Seagate Technology in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $128.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $167.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "negative" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Seagate Technology currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $151.44.

About Seagate Technology

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.