Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Seagate Technology by 243.8%, owning 16,415 shares worth approximately $1.39 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Seagate, with price targets ranging from $68 to $200, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" based on 14 buy ratings, 6 holds, and 1 sell.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share and a stock buyback plan allowing for the repurchase of up to $5 billion in shares, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report) by 243.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,415 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,641 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Seagate Technology were worth $1,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Seagate Technology by 133.1% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,681 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,094,000 after buying an additional 7,240 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Seagate Technology in the 1st quarter valued at $223,000. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Seagate Technology by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 29,964 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,545,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in Seagate Technology by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 278,831 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $23,687,000 after buying an additional 25,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Seagate Technology in the 1st quarter valued at $2,626,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of America raised their target price on Seagate Technology from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Seagate Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Seagate Technology from $167.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Seagate Technology from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "negative" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Seagate Technology presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $151.44.

Seagate Technology Price Performance

STX opened at $154.81 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $138.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.87. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC has a 12 month low of $63.19 and a 12 month high of $157.45.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 29.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Seagate Technology's payout ratio is presently 42.54%.

Seagate Technology declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Seagate Technology

In other news, CEO William D. Mosley sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.66, for a total transaction of $2,893,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 498,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,143,388.60. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ban Seng Teh sold 1,725 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.00, for a total value of $248,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,052 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,735,488. This represents a 12.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 395,516 shares of company stock worth $47,831,398. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Seagate Technology 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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