Rosenblatt Securities Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Stock

Key Points

• Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Seagate Technology's price target from $185.00 to $200.00, indicating a potential upside of 30.99% from the current stock price, while maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Seagate Technology reported earnings of $2.59 per share, surpassing expectations of $2.45 per share, with revenue increasing by 29.5% year-over-year.
• The company has initiated a $5.00 billion share repurchase program, reflecting management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Rosenblatt Securities from $185.00 to $200.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the data storage provider's stock.

STX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BNP Paribas raised Seagate Technology from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Seagate Technology from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Seagate Technology in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Seagate Technology from $122.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Seagate Technology from $140.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Seagate Technology currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $151.44.

Seagate Technology Price Performance

Shares of STX stock traded down $4.03 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $152.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 504,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,011,847. Seagate Technology has a 1-year low of $63.19 and a 1-year high of $157.45. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $136.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.78. The company has a market capitalization of $32.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54 and a beta of 1.45.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 16.15% and a negative return on equity of 169.60%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Seagate Technology will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 buy up to 21.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Seagate Technology

In related news, EVP Ban Seng Teh sold 63,418 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $7,927,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,658 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,832,250. This represents a 81.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 26,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.58, for a total value of $3,153,025.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 38,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,477,681.56. This trade represents a 41.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 395,516 shares of company stock valued at $47,831,398. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Seagate Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Seagate Technology during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Seagate Technology during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently 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.