Invesco Ltd. Increases Stake in Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has increased its stake in Seagate Technology Holdings PLC by 3.6%, bringing its total ownership to 2,861,418 shares valued at $243.08 million.
• Seagate Technology reported $2.59 earnings per share for its last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and initiated a $5 billion share buyback plan.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 1.9%, with a payout ratio of 42.54%.

Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,861,418 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 99,884 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.35% of Seagate Technology worth $243,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,743,126 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,441,729,000 after purchasing an additional 769,009 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 18,920,792 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,607,321,000 after buying an additional 2,161,191 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Seagate Technology by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,621,162 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,348,262,000 after buying an additional 5,640,443 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Seagate Technology by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,655,699 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $142,903,000 after buying an additional 195,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,627,264 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $140,449,000 after purchasing an additional 318,306 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on STX shares. Susquehanna increased their target price on Seagate Technology from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "negative" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Seagate Technology from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Seagate Technology in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Seagate Technology from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $175.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Seagate Technology in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $151.44.

Seagate Technology Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ STX traded down $1.19 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $155.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,319,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,929,370. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $144.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.85. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC has a one year low of $63.19 and a one year high of $158.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.50.

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 the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Seagate Technology

In other Seagate Technology news, Director Michael R. Cannon sold 24,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total transaction of $2,878,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,289,365. This trade represents a 69.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ban Seng Teh sold 63,418 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $7,927,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,658 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,832,250. This represents a 81.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 430,270 shares of company stock valued at $53,173,431 in the last quarter. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.