Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Reaches New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $846.85 after a strong recent run in the stock. The move comes amid heavy trading volume and a sharp rise above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Wall Street has turned increasingly bullish on Seagate, with several firms raising price targets, including Evercore to $1,000. The stock now carries an average Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $736.21.
• The company beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, posting $4.10 EPS on $3.11 billion in revenue, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share. Insider selling and high debt levels were also noted, though institutional ownership remains very strong.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $846.85 and last traded at $833.94, with a volume of 807865 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $812.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on Seagate Technology from $500.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on Seagate Technology from $530.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Seagate Technology from $270.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wedbush upped their price target on Seagate Technology from $700.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Evercore upped their price target on Seagate Technology from $750.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $736.21.

Seagate Technology Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $192.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.57 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $574.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $416.45.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The data storage provider reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.59. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 1,005.65%. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. The company's revenue was up 44.1% on a year-over-year basis. Seagate Technology has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 4.800-5.200 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 14.1 EPS for the current year.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 24th. Seagate Technology's payout ratio is 28.08%.

Insider Activity at Seagate Technology

In other Seagate Technology news, EVP Ban Seng Teh sold 8,003 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $817.28, for a total transaction of $6,540,691.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,016,580.48. The trade was a 68.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 1,902 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $770.00, for a total value of $1,464,540.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,527,650. This trade represents a 4.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 142,437 shares of company stock worth $86,093,575 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Seagate Technology

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STX. National Pension Service raised its stake in Seagate Technology by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 250,121 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $59,044,000 after acquiring an additional 54,722 shares in the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Seagate Technology during the fourth quarter worth approximately $23,882,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 187,044 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $51,510,000 after acquiring an additional 8,991 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 518,806 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $142,874,000 after acquiring an additional 6,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. grew its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 55.7% during the third quarter. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. now owns 50,321 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $11,879,000 after acquiring an additional 18,000 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Seagate Technology

Seagate Technology NASDAQ: STX is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage products and systems. The firm's product portfolio includes traditional hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), hybrid storage devices and integrated storage systems aimed at enterprise, cloud, OEM and consumer markets. Seagate also provides services that support its hardware offerings, including data recovery and storage management solutions.

Seagate's products are used in a wide array of applications, from large-scale data centers and cloud infrastructure to desktop and portable consumer devices.

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