Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Stock Price

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) had its target price increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $122.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the data storage provider’s stock.

STX has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Seagate Technology from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Seagate Technology from $130.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded Seagate Technology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Seagate Technology from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.37.

Seagate Technology Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of STX opened at $112.74 on Friday. Seagate Technology has a 52-week low of $63.19 and a 52-week high of $115.32. The stock has a market cap of $23.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $86.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.74.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The data storage provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.15. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 14.67% and a negative return on equity of 63.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. Seagate Technology’s quarterly revenue was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Seagate Technology will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 25th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 25th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Seagate Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.62%.

Seagate Technology declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the data storage provider to buy up to 21.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Seagate Technology

In other Seagate Technology news, Director Judy Bruner sold 10,446 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.71, for a total value of $1,135,584.66. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,333,654.28. This trade represents a 45.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO William D. Mosley sold 20,000 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total value of $1,691,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 555,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,988,047.12. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 106,856 shares of company stock worth $11,202,861. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Seagate Technology

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Seagate Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Seagate Technology during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Seagate Technology in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Seagate Technology by 2,200.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 460 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.