On May 11, 2023, news broke that Swiss National Bank had reduced its position in Seagate Technology Holdings Plc by 8.9%. The bank sold off 78,553 shares of the data storage provider’s stock during the fourth quarter, leaving it with a total of 806,000 shares. This amounted to approximately 0.39% of Seagate Technology’s worth at the end of the most recent reporting period, valued at $42,404,000.
Seagate Technology is a holding company that develops and distributes data storage products and electronic data storage solutions. The company offers a range of products such as hard disk drives, solid state hybrid drives, solid state drives, peripheral component interconnect express cards, serial advanced technology attachment controllers, storage subsystems and computing solutions.
As of Thursday’s opening bell on NASDAQ:STX, shares were trading at $57.27. This came after a sharp decline over recent months due to concerns about supply chain disruptions affecting the tech industry worldwide. However, it should also be noted that Seagate Technology Holdings experienced relatively strong growth over the past year despite these challenges.
The firm currently has a market capitalization of $11.83 billion and boasts a beta score of 1.09 – indicating slightly above average volatility relative to the overall market – as well as a PE ratio of -68.18 based on current reported earnings.
What does this mean for investors? While Swiss National Bank’s reduction in Seagate Technology may cause some short-term uncertainty for stakeholders in this particular stock and within the broader tech sector more generally, it is difficult to predict how this will impact earnings moving forward.
Many analysts believe that Seagate Technology will continue to adapt its business model and offerings to an increasingly digital landscape despite pandemic headwinds and global political turmoil impacting markets worldwide.
As always with any investment decision-making process it crucially important not only to take into account the economic and financial situation of the company, but also to conduct in-depth research before making any investments.
Investors Remain Cautiously Hopeful as Seagate Technology Faces Turbulent Times
Seagate Technology: A Company Under the Loop
Seagate Technology Holdings Plc is a data storage and electronic data storage solutions provider that has been in operation for several years. The company has made significant strides in developing, producing, and distributing products such as hard disk drives, solid-state hybrid drives, and computing solutions, among others. Such innovation and growth have attracted the interest of institutional investors and hedge funds over time.
Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its investments in Seagate Technology by 9.9% during last year’s fourth quarter. Currently, the hedge fund owns close to 4,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 359 shares at the time. Russell Investments Group Ltd also increased its shares in Seagate by 16.5%, now owning over 394 thousand shares worth $20 million.
Institutional investors like Oppenheimer & Co., Lincoln National Corp and Richard W Paul & Associates LLC have also purchased positions worth large amounts of money in Seagate Technology stocks.
However, despite such investments made into the company by several funds, research analysts remain unsure about how to rate the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on the stocks with a price target of $55 per share while increasing their losses predictions for this year to ($0.28) EPS from $0.21 EPS earlier this year.
The Goldman Sachs Group gave a neutral rating as well while raising their target price on Seagate Technology from $61 to $68; meanwhile Barclays decreased the target price to $65 from $75 and issued an overweight rating for this stock earlier this month.
Currently rated as a “Hold” with an average target price of around $66 per share according to Bloomberg.com data, Seagate Technology has seen better days lately; it recently reported negative earnings results for its last quarter performance which fell short of analyst expectations.
According to data released, the company reported a net loss of $0.28 per share, whereas the analysts had predicted a net profit of $0.21 per share during the quarter. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was estimated at $1.98 billion, but it managed to pull in only $1.86 billion.
The situation has thus left stakeholders anticipating even tougher times ahead; however, shareholders have been promised financial respite with an announcement of a quarterly dividend payment set to take place on Wednesday, July 5th.
With Seagate Technology’s payout ratio currently standing at -333.33%, this payout is eagerly awaited by investors who are optimistic about getting some return on their investment despite recent bleak reports about the company’s prospects.
Overall, Seagate Technology seems to be going through turbulent times; however, institutional investors remain confident enough to plow more money into its shares with high hopes that their investments will eventually pay off with high returns and future earnings reports that are much more favorable than what they have seen so far this year.
