Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Trading Up 4.8% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Seagate shares rose 4.8% to $919.84 on heavier-than-average trading, bringing the stock well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $986; several firms recently raised their targets to between $1,000 and $1,300.
• Recent quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $5.71 and revenue of $3.63 billion, while revenue grew 48.5% year over year. The company also declared a $0.74 quarterly dividend, although insiders have sold substantial shares in recent months.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) was up 4.8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $936.94 and last traded at $919.84. 5,264,014 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 21% from the average session volume of 4,356,070 shares. The stock had previously closed at $877.33.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $850.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Seagate Technology from $1,035.00 to $1,187.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $1,300.00 target price on shares of Seagate Technology in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup raised their price target 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Seagate Technology from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Seagate Technology has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $986.00.

Seagate Technology Stock Up 4.8%

The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.27 and a beta of 2.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $842.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $745.49.

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

Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 24th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.33%.

Insider Activity at Seagate Technology

In other Seagate Technology news, EVP Ban Teh sold 52,730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $782.08, for a total transaction of $41,239,078.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,543,884.80. This trade represents a 90.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO William D. Mosley sold 97,889 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $772.14, for a total transaction of $75,584,012.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 378,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $291,952,311.12. The trade was a 20.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders sold 466,959 shares of company stock worth $378,615,011. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Seagate Technology

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 85.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 22,046 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $8,637,000 after purchasing an additional 10,190 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology during the 1st quarter valued at $1,328,000. Financial Insights Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Seagate Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at $706,000. UNICOM Systems Inc. boosted its holdings in Seagate Technology by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. UNICOM Systems Inc. now owns 43,500 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $41,978,000 after buying an additional 6,700 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Seagate Technology by 590.3% in the 2nd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,774 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,712,000 after buying an additional 1,517 shares during the period. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.