Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Hits New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Seagate Technology's stock reached a new 52-week high at $158.00, closing at $155.14 with a trading volume of 373,242 shares.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for the stock, with Citigroup setting a target of $170.00 and Robert W. Baird raising it to $188.00.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.9%, and also authorized a $5 billion share repurchase plan.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $158.00 and last traded at $155.14, with a volume of 373242 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $151.69.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on STX shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Seagate Technology from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. BNP Paribas upgraded Seagate Technology from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Seagate Technology in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Seagate Technology in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Seagate Technology from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $151.44.

Seagate Technology Stock Down 0.8%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.50.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. Seagate Technology had a negative return on equity of 169.60% and a net margin of 16.15%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 29.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Seagate Technology's payout ratio is currently 42.54%.

Seagate Technology announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan 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 reacquire up to 21.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Seagate Technology

In other Seagate Technology news, EVP Ban Seng Teh sold 1,724 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.61, for a total value of $261,375.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $931,946.67. This trade represents a 21.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider James Ci Lee sold 1,116 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.36, for a total value of $171,149.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 257 shares in the company, valued at $39,413.52. This represents a 81.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 430,270 shares of company stock worth $53,173,431. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Seagate Technology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of STX. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,961,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 11,583 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC increased its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 42,226 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $3,645,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

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.