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

Shares of Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $116.41 and last traded at $116.03, with a volume of 1578657 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Seagate Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup upped their price target on Seagate Technology from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Seagate Technology from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Seagate Technology from $105.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Seagate Technology currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $118.89.

Seagate Technology Stock Down 0.3%

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 1.32.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.15. Seagate Technology had a negative return on equity of 63.48% and a net margin of 14.67%. The company had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. Seagate Technology's revenue for the quarter was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Seagate Technology Holdings plc will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 25th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 25th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Seagate Technology's payout ratio is 41.62%.

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 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the data storage provider to purchase up to 21.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO William D. Mosley sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total value of $1,691,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 555,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,988,047.12. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 25,018 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.31, for a total transaction of $2,934,861.58. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,467,399.42. The trade was a 39.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 162,891 shares of company stock valued at $17,773,863. 0.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Seagate Technology

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in STX. MWA Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 19,636 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,695,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 606 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 532 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,098 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,562,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.