Morgan Stanley Raises Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Price Target to $168.00

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $167.00 to $168.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 7.00% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Seagate Technology from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded Seagate Technology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Seagate Technology in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Seagate Technology from $128.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Seagate Technology from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.44.

Seagate Technology Price Performance

Seagate Technology stock opened at $157.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.19 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $136.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.78. Seagate Technology has a 52-week low of $63.19 and a 52-week high of $157.45.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.14. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 16.15% and a negative return on equity of 169.60%. The business had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Seagate Technology will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 26,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.58, for a total value of $3,153,025.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 38,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,477,681.56. This represents a 41.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael R. Cannon sold 24,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total transaction of $2,878,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,835 shares in the company, valued at $1,289,365. This represents a 69.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 395,516 shares of company stock worth $47,831,398. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salvus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 2.0% during the second quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,416 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Seagate Technology by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in Seagate Technology by 2.0% during the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 4,625 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $668,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Seagate Technology by 28.1% during the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 419 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in Seagate Technology by 30.2% in the second quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 457 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.