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

Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday following insider selling activity. 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 trading hands.

Specifically, SVP John Christopher Morris sold 1,131 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.90, for a total transaction of $126,558.90. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on STX. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $115.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Benchmark restated a "hold" rating on shares of Seagate Technology in a research report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "negative" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Seagate Technology presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $118.83.

Seagate Technology Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $21.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.22 and a beta of 1.04. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $105.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.55.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.13 billion. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 5.11% and a negative return on equity of 8.41%. Seagate Technology's quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.34) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Seagate Technology Holdings plc will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Seagate Technology Increases Dividend

The firm 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 2.78%. This is a boost from Seagate Technology's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Seagate Technology's payout ratio is currently 181.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Seagate Technology

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STX. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Seagate Technology in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 2,407.1% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 351 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Seagate Technology in the second quarter worth about $41,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 15,766.7% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 476 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Seagate Technology in the third quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.