Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its ownership in Seagate Technology by 2.7%, holding approximately 28.74 million shares valued at about $2.44 billion, reflecting a significant institutional interest in the company.
• Seagate Technology reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $2.59, exceeding expectations, and year-over-year revenue growth of 29.5%, indicating sustained performance in the data storage market.
• The company's board has initiated a $5 billion stock buyback program, which allows for the repurchase of up to 21.6% of its shares, often signaling management's belief in the stock's undervaluation.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,743,126 shares of the data storage provider's stock after purchasing an additional 769,009 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 13.58% of Seagate Technology worth $2,441,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of STX. Leisure Capital Management lifted its stake in Seagate Technology by 2.2% during the first quarter. Leisure Capital Management now owns 15,833 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,345,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in Seagate Technology during the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. MWA Asset Management lifted its stake in Seagate Technology by 4.3% during the first quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 20,476 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,739,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Seagate Technology by 5.9% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 2,835 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Seagate Technology by 1.8% during the first quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 54,711 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $4,648,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Seagate Technology Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of STX opened at $150.45 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $141.67 and its 200-day moving average is $109.53. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC has a 12 month low of $63.19 and a 12 month high of $157.62. The firm has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 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 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. Seagate Technology's quarterly revenue was up 29.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio is 42.54%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on STX. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Seagate Technology from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, 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 target on the stock. One investment 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $151.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Seagate Technology

In other news, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 26,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.58, for a total transaction of $3,153,025.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 38,082 shares in the company, valued at $4,477,681.56. This represents a 41.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael R. Cannon sold 24,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total transaction of $2,878,610.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,289,365. This represents a 69.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 428,546 shares of company stock worth $52,912,056. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding STX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report).

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.