Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Reaches New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Seagate Technology's stock reached a new 52-week high of $157.62 amid significant trading volume, suggesting strong investor interest.
• Several research firms have upgraded their target prices for Seagate's stock, with Bank of America and TD Cowen setting targets at $165.00 and $175.00, respectively, both maintaining "buy" ratings.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share and initiated a share buyback plan allowing for the repurchase of up to $5.00 billion in shares, indicating confidence in its stock's value.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $157.62 and last traded at $154.81, with a volume of 2509635 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $154.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Seagate Technology from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Seagate Technology from $85.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Seagate Technology from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Seagate Technology from $90.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Seagate Technology presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $151.44.

Seagate Technology Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $141.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.50 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.50.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Seagate Technology had a negative return on equity of 169.60% and a net margin of 16.15%. Seagate Technology'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 business earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio is 42.54%.

Seagate Technology declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Seagate Technology

In other Seagate Technology news, CEO William D. Mosley sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.47, for a total transaction of $7,662,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 485,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,167,061.19. This represents a 12.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael R. Cannon sold 24,190 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total transaction of $2,878,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,289,365. This trade represents a 69.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 428,546 shares of company stock valued at $52,912,056 over the last ninety days. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Seagate Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 56.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,621,162 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,348,262,000 after acquiring an additional 5,640,443 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 12.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 18,920,792 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,607,321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161,191 shares during the period. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology during the second quarter valued at approximately $193,500,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 3,339.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 933,996 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $79,343,000 after buying an additional 906,840 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Seagate Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,341,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.