Benchmark Upgrades Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) to “Buy”

Benchmark upgraded shares of Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $120.00 price objective on the data storage provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on STX. Mizuho decreased their price target on Seagate Technology from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Seagate Technology in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Seagate Technology from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up from $144.00) on shares of Seagate Technology in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Seagate Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.56.

Seagate Technology Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Seagate Technology stock opened at $108.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $22.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.78 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $95.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.42. Seagate Technology has a 52-week low of $82.31 and a 52-week high of $115.32.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Seagate Technology had a negative return on equity of 63.48% and a net margin of 14.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.34) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Seagate Technology will post 6.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 19th. Seagate Technology’s payout ratio is currently 52.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Yolanda Lee Conyers sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.82, for a total transaction of $76,365.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,555 shares in the company, valued at $667,430.10. This trade represents a 10.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO William D. Mosley sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.83, for a total transaction of $2,056,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 622,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,011,366.51. The trade was a 3.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,073 shares of company stock worth $5,106,149 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Seagate Technology

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Seagate Technology during the second quarter worth $27,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Seagate Technology by 2,407.1% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 351 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Seagate Technology by 177.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 403 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Seagate Technology by 232.5% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 419 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during 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.