Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Hits New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Seagate Technology has reached a new 52-week high with shares trading at $157.27, following a positive earnings report that beat estimates, showing a revenue increase of 29.5% year-over-year.
• Multiple analysts have recently upgraded their price targets for Seagate, with Citigroup setting a new target of $170.00, while Robert W. Baird raised theirs to $188.00, indicating strong bullish sentiment for the stock.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.8%, and has a share repurchase plan allowing for the buyback of up to $5 billion in stock, suggesting confidence in its current valuation.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $158.64 and last traded at $157.27, with a volume of 645231 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Seagate Technology from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Seagate Technology from $120.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Seagate Technology in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark raised their price target on Seagate Technology from $128.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Seagate Technology from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $151.44.

Seagate Technology Stock Up 2.4%

The firm has a market cap of $33.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $144.66 and a 200-day moving average of $111.40.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

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

Seagate Technology declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 purchase up to 21.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication 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 63,418 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $7,927,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,658 shares in the company, valued at $1,832,250. This trade represents a 81.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael R. Cannon sold 24,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total value of $2,878,610.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,289,365. This trade represents a 69.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 430,270 shares of company stock valued at $53,173,431. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Seagate Technology

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of STX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 769,009 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Seagate Technology by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 18,920,792 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,607,321,000 after buying an additional 2,161,191 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Seagate Technology by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,001,365 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,305,499,000 after buying an additional 432,455 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Seagate Technology by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,567,181 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $656,066,000 after buying an additional 85,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Seagate Technology by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,861,418 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $243,077,000 after buying an additional 99,884 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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