Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Stock Price Down 1.2% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX) dropped 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $449.28 and last traded at $460.99. 8,210,860 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 81% from the average session volume of 4,531,671 shares. The stock had previously closed at $466.53.

Key Stories Impacting Seagate Technology

Here are the key news stories impacting Seagate Technology this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent fiscal first-quarter results beat estimates, with revenue of $4.23 billion and EPS of $7.72. Seagate also guided to about $4.8 billion in fiscal second-quarter revenue, supporting the growth case. Earnings Beat Might Change The Case For Seagate Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Growth-focused commentary argues Seagate has attributes that could support above-market performance, adding to the bullish earnings narrative. The articles do not specify additional catalysts. 3 Reasons Growth Investors Will Love Seagate
• Negative Sentiment: A report attributed a sharp decline in Seagate shares to insider selling, which can raise concerns about insiders’ confidence, even though selling alone does not establish their outlook. Seagate Technology Stock Falls on Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Seagate and other AI-linked stocks faced pressure amid a wider AI-trade selloff and calls from a lawmaker to pause advanced AI development. That uncertainty may temper enthusiasm around data-storage demand tied to AI investment. Seagate Sinks as Lawmaker Urges a Pause on Advanced AI Development

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on STX. Argus raised their price target on Seagate Technology from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Seagate Technology from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,350.00 price objective on shares of Seagate Technology in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Seagate Technology in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Seagate Technology in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Seagate Technology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,000.88.

Seagate Technology Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $769.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $693.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.82. The company has a market capitalization of $105.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.21 and a beta of 2.16.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The data storage provider reported $7.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.44 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.15 billion. Seagate Technology had a return on equity of 252.47% and a net margin of 31.86%. The company’s revenue was up 61.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 37.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Seagate Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 23rd will be given a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from Seagate Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 23rd. Seagate Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Seagate Technology

In other news, EVP Ban Teh sold 52,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $782.08, for a total value of $41,239,078.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,884.80. The trade was a 90.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 49,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $772.16, for a total value of $38,595,645.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 70,756 shares in the company, valued at $54,634,952.96. This represents a 41.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 447,108 shares of company stock valued at $356,049,743. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signature Equity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 383.3% in the third quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 29 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in Seagate Technology by 70.6% during the second quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 29 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Seagate Technology by 23.1% during the first quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. WealthCollab LLC grew its stake in Seagate Technology by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 93 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Seagate Technology in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Seagate Technology

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.

Founded in 1979, Seagate has a long history in the hard disk drive industry.