Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Stock Position in Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Seagate Technology Holdings PLC by 7.7%, owning 43,404 shares worth approximately $3.69 million.
• Institutional investors own 92.87% of Seagate's stock, highlighting strong institutional interest in the company.
• Seagate Technology announced a $5 billion share repurchase program as well as a quarterly dividend of $0.72, reflecting confidence in its valuation and commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report) by 7.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,404 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Seagate Technology were worth $3,687,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in Seagate Technology in the 1st quarter valued at $17,546,000. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,119 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Seagate Technology by 38.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 128,574 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $10,922,000 after buying an additional 35,557 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Seagate Technology by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,319 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Seagate Technology by 51.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 83,222 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $7,070,000 after buying an additional 28,153 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 26,816 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.58, for a total value of $3,153,025.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 38,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,477,681.56. This trade 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 Seagate Technology stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total value of $2,878,610.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 395,516 shares of company stock worth $47,831,398. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on STX. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $122.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $167.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $85.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $151.44.

Seagate Technology Trading Up 6.5%

STX stock opened at $157.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.19 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.78. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC has a twelve month low of $63.19 and a twelve month high of $157.45.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Seagate Technology declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program 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 programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.54%.

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.

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