Swiss National Bank Purchases 2,000 Shares of Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX)

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Seagate Technology by 0.3%, owning 596,600 shares worth approximately $50.68 million as of the last reporting period.
• Seagate Technology's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $2.59, exceeding estimates and reflecting a 29.5% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company has initiated a share repurchase plan allowing it to buy back up to $5.0 billion in shares, indicating confidence in its stock value.

Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 596,600 shares of the data storage provider's stock after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.28% of Seagate Technology worth $50,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Seagate Technology by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 606 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 15,247 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,327,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,876 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,459 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in Seagate Technology by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 2,835 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Seagate Technology Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ STX traded up $3.90 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $155.59. 2,361,646 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,966,424. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC has a 12-month low of $63.19 and a 12-month high of $158.00. The company has a market cap of $33.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.50. The business's fifty day moving average price is $142.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.17.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 negative return on equity of 169.60% and a net margin of 16.15%. The company had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. Seagate Technology's revenue was up 29.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio is 42.54%.

Seagate Technology declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 buy up to 21.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on STX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Seagate Technology from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Seagate Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Seagate Technology from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on Seagate Technology from $85.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Seagate Technology from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Seagate Technology currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $151.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider James Ci Lee sold 1,116 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.36, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 81.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ban Seng Teh sold 1,724 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.61, for a total value of $261,375.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $931,946.67. This trade represents a 21.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 430,270 shares of company stock worth $53,173,431. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.