Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $167.00 to $168.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the data storage provider's stock.
A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on STX. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $85.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $122.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $128.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Seagate Technology from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $120.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Seagate Technology has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $151.44.
View Our Latest Analysis on Seagate Technology
Seagate Technology Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ STX traded down $2.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $154.81. 3,827,283 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,170,483. Seagate Technology has a 12-month low of $63.19 and a 12-month high of $157.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $138.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.69. The firm has a market cap of $32.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.50.
Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 16.15% and a negative return on equity of 169.60%. The company had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. Seagate Technology's quarterly revenue was up 29.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Seagate Technology will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.
Seagate Technology declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to purchase up to 21.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.54%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Seagate Technology
In other Seagate Technology news, EVP Ban Seng Teh sold 63,418 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $7,927,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,832,250. This trade represents a 81.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William D. Mosley sold 70,000 shares of the firm's 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 owned 485,677 shares in the company, valued at $53,167,061.19. The trade was a 12.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 395,516 shares of company stock valued at $47,831,398 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.
Institutional Trading of Seagate Technology
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Seagate Technology by 1.5% during the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 31,682 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $4,573,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,015 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. First National Trust Co boosted its position in Seagate Technology by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 13,105 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,891,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in Seagate Technology in the 2nd quarter valued at about $173,000. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in Seagate Technology by 29.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 33,100 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $4,777,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
About Seagate Technology
(
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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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