Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Seagate Technology shares reached a new 12-month high after Citigroup upgraded their price target from $167.00 to $215.00, maintaining a buy rating on the stock.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.59, exceeding analyst expectations, and revenue for the quarter was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year.
• Seagate has initiated a $5.00 billion share buyback program, indicating the board's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $167.00 to $215.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Seagate Technology traded as high as $191.52 and last traded at $189.24, with a volume of 4007775 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $188.16.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Seagate Technology from $122.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays raised their price target on Seagate Technology from $125.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on Seagate Technology from $85.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. BNP Paribas upgraded Seagate Technology from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Seagate Technology in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $157.00.

Insider Activity at Seagate Technology

In other news, insider James Ci Lee sold 1,116 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.36, for a total transaction of $171,149.76. Following the transaction, the insider owned 257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,413.52. This trade represents a 81.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jay L. Geldmacher sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.50, for a total value of $376,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,976. This trade represents a 87.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 57,078 shares of company stock worth $8,561,503. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Seagate Technology

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Seagate Technology during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 884.2% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 187 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Seagate Technology during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Seagate Technology during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Seagate Technology during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Seagate Technology Stock Up 0.6%

The company has a market cap of $40.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $156.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.22.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Seagate Technology has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.500 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.54%.

Seagate Technology announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to reacquire up to 21.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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