Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Stock Jumps 3.2% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX) shot up 3.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Seagate Technology traded as high as $715.63 and last traded at $696.89. 4,425,349 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 4,397,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $675.13.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings raised Seagate Technology from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Seagate Technology from $1,240.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Seagate Technology from $1,300.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Seagate Technology from $1,180.00 to $865.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $1,300.00 price target on shares of Seagate Technology in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $975.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Seagate Technology news, CEO William Mosley sold 11,002 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.60, for a total transaction of $10,293,471.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 362,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $338,788,244.80. The trade was a 2.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 49,984 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $772.16, for a total transaction of $38,595,645.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,756 shares in the company, valued at $54,634,952.96. This represents a 41.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 466,959 shares of company stock worth $378,840,741. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Seagate Technology News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Seagate Technology this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target to $1,200 from $1,150 and maintained a Buy rating. The target implies substantial upside from recent trading levels and reinforces the view that Seagate’s earnings outlook is improving. Bank of America raises Seagate price target
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also lifted its target to $1,200 from $1,187 and reiterated an Overweight rating. The firm expects Seagate and other hard-drive makers to post strong quarterly results and issue better-than-expected guidance, making it an aggressive buyer despite recent share-price pressure. Morgan Stanley raises Seagate price target
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Seagate to Rank #2, or Buy. The upgrade reflects improving expectations for the company’s earnings and could attract additional growth-oriented investors. Zacks also highlighted Seagate’s strong growth characteristics and history of earnings surprises. Zacks upgrades Seagate to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are anticipating another earnings beat. Seagate’s recent results exceeded consensus expectations, and analysts cite its earnings-surprise track record and favorable estimate-revision trends as potential catalysts for the next report. Seagate earnings beat outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Risks remain from concerns about artificial-intelligence financing and increasing competition in the storage market. Seagate’s upcoming earnings and guidance will be important in validating the bullish forecasts.

Institutional Trading of Seagate Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STX. Arvest Investments Inc. increased its stake in Seagate Technology by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 3,636 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,354,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Seagate Technology during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $461,000. City State Bank lifted its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 580 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $535,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Bell Bank lifted its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bell Bank now owns 18,038 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $16,637,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, One River Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. One River Asset Management LLC now owns 45 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Seagate Technology Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $158.47 billion, a PE ratio of 50.21 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.67. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $836.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $808.22.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The data storage provider reported $5.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.50 billion. Seagate Technology had a return on equity of 369.98% and a net margin of 26.11%. Seagate Technology’s quarterly revenue was up 48.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. Seagate Technology has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 7.100-7.500 EPS. Research analysts expect that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 35.70 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 24th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 24th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Seagate Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.33%.

About Seagate Technology

Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ: STX) is a data storage company that develops and manufactures mass-capacity storage products and solutions. Its portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs) used in cloud data centers, enterprise systems, network-attached storage, video and imaging applications, and personal computers.

The company also provides storage-related services and solutions designed to help organizations store, manage, protect, and access large volumes of digital information.