Independent Advisor Alliance Cuts Stake in Seagate Technology Holdings PLC $STX

Key Points

• Independent Advisor Alliance significantly reduced its holdings in Seagate Technology Holdings PLC by 78.1%, now owning only 3,610 shares valued at $307,000.
• Majority of analysts have a positive outlook on Seagate, with 14 analysts rating it as a buy and a consensus price target of $151.44.
• Seagate recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, which equates to an annual yield of 1.9% and initiated a $5 billion share buyback plan, indicating management's confidence in the stock's value.

Independent Advisor Alliance lowered its stake in Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report) by 78.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,610 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 12,861 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance's holdings in Seagate Technology were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in STX. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Seagate Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,961,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 11,583 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 42,226 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $3,645,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of Seagate Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,467,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Seagate Technology Trading Down 0.5%

STX stock traded down $0.77 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $157.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,546,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,923,387. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC has a 52 week low of $63.19 and a 52 week high of $158.98. The stock's 50 day moving average is $145.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.83. The firm has a market cap of $33.59 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.50.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 negative return on equity of 169.60% and a net margin of 16.15%.The company had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. Seagate Technology's revenue was up 29.5% on a year-over-year basis. Seagate Technology has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.500 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Seagate Technology announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the data storage provider to buy up to 21.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 42.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Seagate Technology news, Director Jay L. Geldmacher sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 352 shares in the company, valued at $52,976. This represents a 87.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider James Ci Lee sold 1,116 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.36, for a total value of $171,149.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 257 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,413.52. The trade was a 81.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 430,270 shares of company stock worth $53,173,431. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on STX. UBS Group upped their price target on Seagate Technology from $85.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Seagate Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Seagate Technology from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "negative" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Seagate Technology from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $175.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Seagate Technology from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Fourteen 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $151.44.

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.