Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Stock Price Up 9.8% – Here’s Why

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX)’s share price was up 9.8% on Monday. The company traded as high as $512.51 and last traded at $506.14. 6,055,412 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 33% from the average daily volume of 4,541,282 shares. The stock had previously closed at $460.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on STX shares. Bank of America increased their target price on Seagate Technology from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on Seagate Technology from $1,400.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Seagate Technology in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Seagate Technology from $1,095.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Seagate Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,000.88.

Seagate Technology Stock Up 9.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $116.19 billion, a PE ratio of 26.58 and a beta of 2.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $769.59 and a 200-day moving average of $693.82.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The data storage provider reported $7.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.44 by $0.24. Seagate Technology had a return on equity of 252.47% and a net margin of 31.86%. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.61 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 61.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 37.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 23rd will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from Seagate Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 23rd. Seagate Technology’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Seagate Technology

In other Seagate Technology news, CEO William D. Mosley sold 6,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $622.82, for a total value of $4,185,350.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 346,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $215,562,984.56. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 49,984 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $772.16, for a total transaction of $38,595,645.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,756 shares in the company, valued at $54,634,952.96. The trade was a 41.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 447,108 shares of company stock valued at $356,049,743 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Seagate Technology

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Seagate Technology in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $75,000. FDx Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Seagate Technology by 5.7% in the third quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 1,945 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,794,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. grew its position in Seagate Technology by 5.5% during the third quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 3,680 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,399,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S grew its position in Seagate Technology by 11.7% during the third quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 143,979 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $132,798,000 after acquiring an additional 15,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisory LLC grew its position in Seagate Technology by 34.1% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 287 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

About Seagate Technology

Seagate Technology develops and supplies data-storage products and solutions for businesses and consumers. Its portfolio includes hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives, and storage systems designed for applications ranging from personal computing to large-scale data centers.

The company’s products support cloud and enterprise storage, network-attached storage, video surveillance, gaming, and other uses that require digital data to be stored and accessed. Seagate also offers data-management and storage services through its Lyve platform.

Founded in 1979, Seagate has a long history in the hard disk drive industry.