Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Trading Up 2.2% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Seagate shares rose 2.2% to $877.33, with trading volume slightly below average. The stock remains above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts maintain a generally bullish outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $986; several firms recently raised their targets to as high as $1,400.
• Seagate reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, including $5.71 EPS and $3.63 billion in revenue, up 48.5% year over year. The company also declared a $0.74 quarterly dividend, while insiders sold shares primarily to cover tax obligations on equity awards.

Shares of Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) were up 2.2% on Monday . The company traded as high as $914.82 and last traded at $877.33. 4,181,121 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 4,345,278 shares. The stock had previously closed at $858.79.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,350.00 price objective on shares of Seagate Technology in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $1,300.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. China Renaissance boosted their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $802.00 to $983.00 in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $775.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $986.00.

Seagate Technology Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $199.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.21 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $842.11 and a 200-day moving average of $741.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The data storage provider reported $5.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $3.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.50 billion. Seagate Technology had a return on equity of 369.98% and a net margin of 26.11%.The business's revenue was up 48.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.59 EPS. Seagate Technology has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 7.100-7.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 35.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 24th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Seagate Technology's payout ratio is 21.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Seagate Technology news, EVP John Morris sold 15,466 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $772.15, for a total value of $11,942,071.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,038,573.80. This trade represents a 33.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 49,984 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $772.16, for a total transaction of $38,595,645.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,634,952.96. This represents a 41.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 457,605 shares of company stock valued at $370,403,041. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STX. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Seagate Technology by 2,655.9% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,414,136 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,329,641,000 after buying an additional 2,326,538 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Seagate Technology in the fourth quarter valued at about $498,363,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $378,985,000 after acquiring an additional 943,170 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 102.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,599,962 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $440,614,000 after purchasing an additional 807,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 298.7% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 997,223 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $274,625,000 after purchasing an additional 747,102 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

About Seagate Technology

Seagate Technology Holdings plc is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures mass-capacity storage solutions for businesses and consumers. Its product portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs), which are used in cloud data centers, enterprise systems, network-attached storage, video and imaging applications, and personal computing.

The company also offers solid-state drives (SSDs), external storage products, storage systems, and related data-management and recovery services.

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