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

Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $81.60, but opened at $87.14. Seagate Technology shares last traded at $87.30, with a volume of 2,514,241 shares changing hands.

The data storage provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.15. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 14.67% and a negative return on equity of 63.48%. The business had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 30.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 25th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Seagate Technology’s payout ratio is 52.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on STX shares. Mizuho cut their target price on Seagate Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Seagate Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on Seagate Technology from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Seagate Technology in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $133.00 to $129.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.89.

Insider Activity at Seagate Technology

In other Seagate Technology news, CEO William D. Mosley sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total transaction of $1,691,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 555,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,988,047.12. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Seagate Technology

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Seagate Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new position in Seagate Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Seagate Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Seagate Technology during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Seagate Technology by 2,200.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 460 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Seagate Technology Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $19.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.08.

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.