Traders Purchase High Volume of Seagate Technology Call Options (NASDAQ:STX)

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 99,688 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 624% compared to the typical daily volume of 13,765 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Fox Advisors boosted their target price on Seagate Technology from $245.00 to $270.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $80.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “negative” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Seagate Technology in a report on Monday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Seagate Technology from $170.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Seagate Technology in a research note on Friday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $325.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Seagate Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $293.13.

Seagate Technology Price Performance

STX stock traded down $0.55 on Tuesday, hitting $282.30. 1,457,417 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,085,600. Seagate Technology has a twelve month low of $63.19 and a twelve month high of $308.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.59. The business’s fifty day moving average is $261.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.02.

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 given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 24th. This is an increase from Seagate Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Seagate Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.97%.

Insider Activity

In other Seagate Technology news, Director Stephanie Tilenius sold 2,046 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.41, for a total value of $545,074.86. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,261,924.04. The trade was a 14.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 54,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.16, for a total transaction of $15,404,628.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 56,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,052,511.88. This trade represents a 48.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 132,555 shares of company stock worth $36,030,007 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Seagate Technology

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STX. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $173,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Seagate Technology by 18.0% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,422 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,632,000 after purchasing an additional 2,808 shares during the period. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd increased its position in Seagate Technology by 185.8% in the second 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 buying an additional 12,178 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology in the first quarter valued at $272,000. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Seagate Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,542,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.