Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Stock Price Up 6.9% – Should You Buy?

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX)’s share price rose 6.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $872.00 and last traded at $858.79. Approximately 6,949,630 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 60% from the average session volume of 4,349,833 shares. The stock had previously closed at $803.13.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STX has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $1,095.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Bank of America upped their target price on Seagate Technology from $1,000.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Seagate Technology from $1,035.00 to $1,187.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $775.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $986.00.

Seagate Technology Stock Up 6.9%

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 company has a market capitalization of $195.28 billion, a PE ratio of 61.87 and a beta of 2.06. The company’s 50-day moving average is $843.14 and its 200 day moving average is $738.45.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) last posted 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 business had revenue of $3.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.50 billion. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 26.11% and a return on equity of 369.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.59 EPS. Seagate Technology has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 7.100-7.500 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 35.7 EPS for the current year.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 24th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 24th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Seagate Technology’s payout ratio is 21.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John Morris sold 15,466 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $772.15, for a total value of $11,942,071.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,038,573.80. The trade was a 33.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO William D. Mosley sold 97,889 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $772.14, for a total value of $75,584,012.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 378,108 shares in the company, valued at $291,952,311.12. This trade represents a 20.57% 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 457,605 shares of company stock worth $370,403,041. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Seagate Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 2,655.9% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,414,136 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,329,641,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326,538 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Seagate Technology by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,896,815 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,343,683,000 after buying an additional 234,436 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Seagate Technology by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,193,063 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $879,338,000 after buying an additional 243,551 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its stake in 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. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Seagate Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $498,363,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Seagate Technology

Seagate Technology Holdings plc is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures mass-capacity storage solutions for businesses and consumers. Its product portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs), which are used in cloud data centers, enterprise systems, network-attached storage, video and imaging applications, and personal computing.

The company also offers solid-state drives (SSDs), external storage products, storage systems, and related data-management and recovery services.