Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Now Covered by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $170.00 price target on the data storage provider's stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on STX. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Seagate Technology from $105.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Seagate Technology in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Seagate Technology from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.16.

Seagate Technology Stock Up 1.8%

NASDAQ:STX traded up $2.49 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $144.50. 5,593,356 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,238,899. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $122.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.86. The company has a market cap of $30.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66 and a beta of 1.45. Seagate Technology has a one year low of $63.19 and a one year high of $152.16.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.15. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 17.49% and a negative return on equity of 105.02%. The business had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Seagate Technology will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Seagate Technology declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the data storage provider to buy up to 21.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 25th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 25th. Seagate Technology's payout ratio is 41.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Seagate Technology news, Director Yolanda Lee Conyers sold 750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.01, for a total value of $87,757.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,055 shares in the company, valued at $591,485.55. This represents a 12.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ban Seng Teh sold 599 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $77,870.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 10,329 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,342,770. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 393,791 shares of company stock worth $47,582,998. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Seagate Technology

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in Seagate Technology by 2.0% during the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 4,625 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 419 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Seagate Technology by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 606 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Seagate Technology by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,835 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Seagate Technology Company Profile

Seagate Technology Holdings plc provides data storage technology and solutions in Singapore, the United States, the Netherlands, and internationally. It provides mass capacity storage products, including enterprise nearline hard disk drives (HDDs), enterprise nearline solid state drives (SSDs), enterprise nearline systems, video and image HDDs, and network-attached storage drives.