Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Given New $125.00 Price Target at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays raised its price target for Seagate Technology from $90.00 to $125.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating, which implies a potential downside based on the current stock price.
• Seagate Technology reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.59 for the latest quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $2.45, and had revenue that increased by 29.5% year-over-year.
• The company has initiated a $5 billion share buyback program, signaling confidence in its stock valuation as well as its intention to repurchase up to 21.6% of its outstanding shares.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the data storage provider's stock.

STX has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Seagate Technology from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "negative" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Seagate Technology from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $151.44.

Seagate Technology Trading Down 1.9%

STX stock traded down $3.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $154.00. 796,094 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,013,821. Seagate Technology has a 1-year low of $63.19 and a 1-year high of $157.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82 and a beta of 1.45.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Seagate Technology had a negative return on equity of 169.60% and a net margin of 16.15%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Seagate Technology will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Seagate Technology declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to repurchase up to 21.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.54%.

Insider Activity at Seagate Technology

In related news, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 26,816 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.58, for a total value of $3,153,025.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 38,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,477,681.56. This trade represents a 41.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William D. Mosley sold 70,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.47, for a total transaction of $7,662,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 485,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,167,061.19. This trade represents a 12.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 395,516 shares of company stock valued at $47,831,398 over the last quarter. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,743,126 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,441,729,000 after buying an additional 769,009 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Seagate Technology by 12.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 18,920,792 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,607,321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161,191 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 16,530,152 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,426,717,000 after acquiring an additional 162,561 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,621,162 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,348,262,000 after acquiring an additional 5,640,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,295,225 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $370,013,000 after acquiring an additional 132,713 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Seagate Technology

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.