Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $112.64, but opened at $105.74. Seagate Technology shares last traded at $103.17, with a volume of 2,209,235 shares.

Specifically, SVP John Christopher Morris sold 1,131 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.90, for a total value of $126,558.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,191 shares in the company, valued at $804,672.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Seagate Technology in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Seagate Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Seagate Technology from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Seagate Technology from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.61.

Seagate Technology Stock Down 7.8 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $104.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.89 and a beta of 1.04.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.28. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 5.11% and a negative return on equity of 8.41%. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.34) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Seagate Technology Holdings plc will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. This is an increase from Seagate Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Seagate Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 181.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Seagate Technology

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Seagate Technology by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in Seagate Technology by 3.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,620 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group increased its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 8,473 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $788,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,452 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.