Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $105.30, but opened at $109.00. Seagate Technology shares last traded at $108.68, with a volume of 1,353,067 shares.

The data storage provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Seagate Technology had a negative return on equity of 8.05% and a net margin of 5.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.29) EPS.

Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. Seagate Technology’s payout ratio is currently -217.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on STX shares. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Seagate Technology from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Seagate Technology from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Seagate Technology from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Seagate Technology from $115.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Seagate Technology from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Seagate Technology currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.94.

Insider Activity at Seagate Technology

In related news, SVP John Christopher Morris sold 11,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,004,220.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,030. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Ban Seng Teh sold 10,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $1,074,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $504,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP John Christopher Morris sold 11,158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,004,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,030. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,531 shares of company stock valued at $3,592,946. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 3.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 1.4% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 8,473 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 3.7% in the second 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 during the period. Burney Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 3.3% in the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 3,948 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 1.5% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 8,446 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Seagate Technology Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $21.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -80.59 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $101.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.91.

Seagate Technology Company Profile

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.