Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Shares Up 9.8% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX) were up 9.8% during trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $512.51 and last traded at $506.14. Approximately 6,055,412 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 33% from the average daily volume of 4,541,282 shares. The stock had previously closed at $460.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on STX. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Seagate Technology in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Seagate Technology from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,350.00 target price on shares of Seagate Technology in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Seagate Technology from $1,200.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Seagate Technology from $1,300.00 to $1,050.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,000.88.

Seagate Technology Trading Up 9.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $769.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $693.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58 and a beta of 2.16.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The data storage provider reported $7.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.44 by $0.24. Seagate Technology had a return on equity of 252.47% and a net margin of 31.86%. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. Seagate Technology’s quarterly revenue was up 61.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 37.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 23rd will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 23rd. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Seagate Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Seagate Technology’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ban Teh sold 52,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $782.08, for a total transaction of $41,239,078.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,884.80. The trade was a 90.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Morris sold 15,466 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $772.15, for a total value of $11,942,071.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,038,573.80. This represents a 33.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 447,108 shares of company stock valued at $356,049,743 over the last three months. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its holdings in Seagate Technology by 1,752.1% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 3,757,206 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,465,421,000 after buying an additional 3,554,342 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 2,655.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,414,136 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,329,641,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326,538 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 834,705 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $805,490,000 after acquiring an additional 6,944 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 748,798 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $690,316,000 after acquiring an additional 55,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 3,872.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 967,528 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $378,985,000 after purchasing an additional 943,170 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Seagate Technology

Seagate Technology develops and supplies data-storage products and solutions for businesses and consumers. Its portfolio includes hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives, and storage systems designed for applications ranging from personal computing to large-scale data centers.

The company’s products support cloud and enterprise storage, network-attached storage, video surveillance, gaming, and other uses that require digital data to be stored and accessed. Seagate also offers data-management and storage services through its Lyve platform.

Founded in 1979, Seagate has a long history in the hard disk drive industry.