Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $130.00.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on STX shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Seagate Technology from $140.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Seagate Technology from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. BNP Paribas raised Seagate Technology from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. 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 note on Monday, May 19th.

Seagate Technology Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of STX opened at $149.07 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.60. The firm has a market cap of $31.64 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 1.45. Seagate Technology has a 1-year low of $63.19 and a 1-year high of $152.16.

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

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

Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 25th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 25th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.62%.

Insider Transactions at Seagate Technology

In other news, EVP Ban Seng Teh sold 63,418 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $7,927,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,832,250. The trade was a 81.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William D. Mosley sold 70,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.47, for a total transaction of $7,662,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 485,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,167,061.19. This trade represents a 12.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 395,516 shares of company stock worth $47,831,398. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Seagate Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 11,946 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Seagate Technology by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 82,722 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $7,140,000 after purchasing an additional 2,024 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Seagate Technology during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,204,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 47.2% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 20,048 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,730,000 after buying an additional 6,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 29,099 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,512,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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