Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,736 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 2,902 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Seagate Technology were worth $4,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of STX. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 2,200.0% during the first 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 period. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Seagate Technology Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STX opened at $149.45 on Friday. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC has a 1 year low of $63.19 and a 1 year high of $152.16. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $116.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.93. The firm has a market cap of $31.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.60 and a beta of 1.45.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 17.49% and a negative return on equity of 105.02%. Seagate Technology's revenue for the quarter was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 25th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 25th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.62%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on STX. Wall Street Zen lowered Seagate Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Seagate Technology in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Seagate Technology from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Seagate Technology in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Seagate Technology from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Seagate Technology currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $119.42.

Insider Activity at Seagate Technology

In related news, Director Michael R. Cannon sold 24,190 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director owned 10,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,289,365. The trade was a 69.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 26,816 shares of Seagate Technology 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. The trade was a 41.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 393,791 shares of company stock worth $47,582,998 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

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.

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