Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Shares Up 6.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX) were up 6.5% during mid-day trading on Monday after Wedbush raised their price target on the stock from $290.00 to $380.00. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Seagate Technology traded as high as $369.84 and last traded at $368.4280. Approximately 1,453,621 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 3,439,321 shares. The stock had previously closed at $346.10.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on STX. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Seagate Technology from $337.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Seagate Technology from $230.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Seagate Technology from $170.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Seagate Technology from $270.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Susquehanna raised Seagate Technology from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $356.09.

Insider Transactions at Seagate Technology

In related news, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 54,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.16, for a total transaction of $15,404,628.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 56,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,052,511.88. This trade represents a 48.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kian Fatt Chong sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.14, for a total value of $1,926,206.92. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 132,557 shares of company stock worth $36,847,793 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Seagate Technology

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Seagate Technology during the second quarter worth about $173,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Seagate Technology during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,864,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Seagate Technology by 18.0% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,422 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $2,632,000 after buying an additional 2,808 shares in the last quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd lifted its holdings in Seagate Technology by 185.8% during the 2nd quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 18,734 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,704,000 after buying an additional 12,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Seagate Technology in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,542,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Seagate Technology Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $78.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $289.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.60.

Seagate Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 24th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 24th. This is a positive change from Seagate Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Seagate Technology’s payout ratio is presently 38.00%.

About Seagate Technology

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.