Seagate Technology Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:STX)

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 99,688 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 624% compared to the typical volume of 13,765 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. China Renaissance began coverage on Seagate Technology in a research report on Friday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $325.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on Seagate Technology from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $275.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $170.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $280.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $293.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 54,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.16, for a total value of $15,404,628.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,052,511.88. This represents a 48.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Yolanda Lee Conyers sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.91, for a total transaction of $204,682.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,528,568.91. This trade represents a 11.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 132,555 shares of company stock worth $36,030,007. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in Seagate Technology during the second quarter worth approximately $173,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,422 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,632,000 after acquiring an additional 2,808 shares during the period. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 185.8% during the 2nd quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 18,734 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,704,000 after acquiring an additional 12,178 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. bought a new stake in Seagate Technology in the 1st quarter valued at $272,000. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Seagate Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,542,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Seagate Technology Stock Performance

STX stock opened at $282.80 on Wednesday. Seagate Technology has a fifty-two week low of $63.19 and a fifty-two week high of $308.93. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $263.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.30, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.59.

Seagate Technology Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 24th. This is a positive change from Seagate Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Seagate Technology’s dividend payout ratio is 36.97%.

About Seagate Technology

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage products and systems. The firm’s product portfolio includes traditional hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), hybrid storage devices and integrated storage systems aimed at enterprise, cloud, OEM and consumer markets. Seagate also provides services that support its hardware offerings, including data recovery and storage management solutions.

Seagate’s products are used in a wide array of applications, from large-scale data centers and cloud infrastructure to desktop and portable consumer devices.