Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Trading 4.7% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Seagate Technology shares rose 4.7% after Wells Fargo lifted its price target from $700 to $900, while keeping an equal-weight rating. The stock traded as high as $940.79 during the session.
• Several analysts remain bullish on STX, with recent upgrades and higher targets from firms including Bank of America, Rosenblatt, Morgan Stanley, Wall Street Zen, and Zacks. MarketBeat shows an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $754.96.
• Seagate also reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.10 beating estimates and revenue of $3.11 billion topping expectations. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share payable July 7.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) shares traded up 4.7% during mid-day trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $700.00 to $900.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Seagate Technology traded as high as $940.79 and last traded at $921.26. 3,340,919 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 4,168,353 shares. The stock had previously closed at $879.80.

STX has been the subject of several other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Seagate Technology from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Seagate Technology from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $840.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $500.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $582.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Seagate Technology presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $754.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 22,488 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $774.22, for a total value of $17,410,659.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,173,004.34. This represents a 34.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ban Seng Teh sold 8,003 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $817.28, for a total transaction of $6,540,691.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,691 shares in the company, valued at $3,016,580.48. This represents a 68.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 122,437 shares of company stock valued at $78,398,375. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Seagate Technology

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 124.4% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 92 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 884.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 187 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Avion Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 343.5% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 102 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Seagate Technology Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock's fifty day moving average is $612.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $432.99. The firm has a market cap of $206.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.41 and a beta of 2.04.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The data storage provider reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.59. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.96 billion. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 1,005.65%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 44.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. Seagate Technology has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 4.800-5.200 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 14.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.08%.

Seagate Technology Company Profile

Seagate Technology NASDAQ: STX is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage products and systems. The firm's product portfolio includes traditional hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), hybrid storage devices and integrated storage systems aimed at enterprise, cloud, OEM and consumer markets. Seagate also provides services that support its hardware offerings, including data recovery and storage management solutions.

Seagate's products are used in a wide array of applications, from large-scale data centers and cloud infrastructure to desktop and portable consumer devices.

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