Seagate Technology Holdings PLC $STX Stock Bought by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX) by 1,752.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,757,206 shares of the data storage provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,554,342 shares during the period. Seagate Technology makes up about 3.6% of Aberdeen Group plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Seagate Technology were worth $3,465,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Seagate Technology by 85.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 22,046 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $8,637,000 after purchasing an additional 10,190 shares during the last quarter. UNICOM Systems Inc. grew its position in Seagate Technology by 18.2% in the second quarter. UNICOM Systems Inc. now owns 43,500 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $41,978,000 after buying an additional 6,700 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in shares of Seagate Technology in the first quarter valued at $1,328,000. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Seagate Technology in the third quarter valued at $820,000. Finally, Financial Insights Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at $706,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on STX shares. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Seagate Technology in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Seagate Technology from $1,000.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Summit Insights downgraded Seagate Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,350.00 price target on shares of Seagate Technology in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on Seagate Technology from $1,400.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,000.88.

Seagate Technology Trading Down 3.1%

NASDAQ:STX opened at $528.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC has a fifty-two week low of $228.61 and a fifty-two week high of $1,145.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $740.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $698.15. The stock has a market cap of $121.27 billion, a PE ratio of 27.75 and a beta of 2.16.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The data storage provider reported $7.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.44 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.15 billion. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 252.47%. The firm’s revenue was up 61.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 23rd will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 23rd. This is a positive change from Seagate Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Seagate Technology’s payout ratio is currently 15.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John Morris sold 2,675 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $650.15, for a total transaction of $1,739,151.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,609,589.95. This trade represents a 11.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO William Mosley sold 6,720 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 346,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,562,984.56. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 439,747 shares of company stock worth $349,271,735. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Seagate Technology Profile

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.