Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Given New $80.00 Price Target at Susquehanna

Key Points

• Susquehanna raised its price target on Seagate Technology from $68.00 to $80.00, indicating a potential downside of 47.60% from current levels despite holding a "negative" rating.
• Seagate reported a 29.5% increase in year-over-year revenue and beat EPS estimates by $0.14, reflecting strong quarterly performance.
• Insider sales included significant transactions by Director Stephanie Tilenius and CEO William D. Mosley, indicating a reduction in their ownership stake in the company.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by Susquehanna from $68.00 to $80.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "negative" rating on the data storage provider's stock. Susquehanna's price target points to a potential downside of 48.32% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on STX. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Seagate Technology in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Seagate Technology from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised their target price on Seagate Technology from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Seagate Technology from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Seagate Technology currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $151.44.

Seagate Technology Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of Seagate Technology stock traded down $2.20 on Wednesday, reaching $154.81. 3,827,283 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,170,483. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $138.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.50. Seagate Technology has a twelve month low of $63.19 and a twelve month high of $157.45.

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

Seagate Technology announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the data storage provider to repurchase up to 21.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephanie Tilenius sold 2,693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.04, for a total value of $344,811.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,567,721.76. This represents a 18.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ban Seng Teh sold 1,725 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.00, for a total transaction of $248,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 12,052 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,735,488. This trade represents a 12.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 395,516 shares of company stock worth $47,831,398. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Seagate Technology

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $4,573,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Seagate Technology by 17.5% in 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 in the last quarter. First National Trust Co lifted its stake 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 worth $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Seagate Technology during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $173,000. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 29.3% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. 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.