Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Stock Price Up 2.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Seagate shares rose 2.2% after Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $1,200 from $1,187 and maintained an Overweight rating. Analysts overall assign the stock a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average target price of $973.92.
• Seagate reported quarterly EPS of $5.71, exceeding estimates of $5.10, while revenue grew 48.5% year over year to $3.63 billion. The company issued fiscal 2027 first-quarter EPS guidance of $7.10–$7.50.
• Insiders sold approximately $378.8 million of shares over the past 90 days, including substantial sales by two executive vice presidents, while institutional investors own 92.87% of the stock.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) shot up 2.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $1,187.00 to $1,200.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Seagate Technology traded as high as $680.70 and last traded at $675.13. Approximately 3,993,221 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 9% from the average daily volume of 4,397,620 shares. The stock had previously closed at $660.81.

Several other research firms have also commented on STX. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $1,000.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on Seagate Technology from $1,240.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $825.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Seagate Technology from $775.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Seagate Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $973.92.

Insider Activity

In other Seagate Technology news, EVP John Morris sold 9,354 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $877.91, for a total transaction of $8,211,970.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,922,411.63. The trade was a 29.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ban Teh sold 52,730 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $782.08, for a total value of $41,239,078.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,884.80. This trade represents a 90.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 466,959 shares of company stock worth $378,840,741 in the last 90 days. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Seagate Technology News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its Seagate price target to $1,200 from $1,187 and reaffirmed an Overweight rating. Based on the referenced share price of $675.13, the target implies approximately 77.7% upside. Morgan Stanley raises Seagate price target
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst Erik Woodring expects Seagate to deliver strong quarterly results and better-than-expected guidance, and said Morgan Stanley would be an “aggressive buyer” of the stock. The outlook suggests continued demand for mass-capacity storage could support results despite recent sector weakness. Morgan Stanley sees upside for Seagate
• Positive Sentiment: The bullish view is supported by Seagate’s latest reported quarter, in which revenue increased 48.5% year over year and earnings exceeded analyst expectations. The company also provided strong fiscal 2027 first-quarter EPS guidance.
• Neutral Sentiment: Seagate has been one of the strongest performers in the technology hardware, storage and peripherals group over the past five years, outperforming nearly all industry peers. Investors will now look for upcoming earnings and guidance to determine whether that leadership can continue. Seagate industry performance analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Risks remain, including concerns about artificial-intelligence financing, elevated competition and recent pressure across hard-drive stocks. A weaker earnings report or disappointing guidance could challenge Morgan Stanley’s aggressive outlook. Morgan Stanley outlook on Seagate and Western Digital

Institutional Trading of Seagate Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STX. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Seagate Technology by 2,655.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,414,136 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,329,641,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326,538 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Seagate Technology by 3,872.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 967,528 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $378,985,000 after acquiring an additional 943,170 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 67.6% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 709,160 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $277,821,000 after purchasing an additional 285,949 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in Seagate Technology by 32.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 965,565 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $378,267,000 after purchasing an additional 235,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Seagate Technology by 119.7% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 378,527 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $147,753,000 after purchasing an additional 206,196 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Seagate Technology Stock Up 2.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $153.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.64 and a beta of 2.06. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $839.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $806.45.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The data storage provider reported $5.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.50 billion. Seagate Technology had a return on equity of 369.98% and a net margin of 26.11%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 48.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. Seagate Technology has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 7.100-7.500 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 35.70 EPS for the current year.

Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 24th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 24th. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio is 21.33%.

About Seagate Technology

Seagate Technology Holdings plc NASDAQ: STX is a data storage company that develops and manufactures mass-capacity storage products and solutions. Its portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs) used in cloud data centers, enterprise systems, network-attached storage, video and imaging applications, and personal computers.

The company also provides storage-related services and solutions designed to help organizations store, manage, protect, and access large volumes of digital information.

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