Stifel Affirms Seagate Tech (STX) at 'Hold'; ValueAct Buy Means Samsung Sale?

Stifel affirms Seagate Technology plc (Nasdaq: STX) with a Hold rating and $35 price target after the company announced a secondary block trade transaction and that ValueAct Capital would become its largest shareholder.

The firm commented today, While we have not spoken with the company about this transaction, we would believe investors could consider that this size of a block trade could relate to a decision by Samsung to liquidate its position in Seagate – Bloomberg listing Samsung’s ownership in Seagate at ~12.540 million shares (side note: earlier this week it was reported that Samsung divested half of its stake in ASML, or ~$680 million). ValueAct’s ~3.0 million share purchase in Seagate occurred during the June quarter. In connection with the transaction, ValueAct has been invited to serve as an observer on Seagate’s board of directors. Samsung has had a board seat at Seagate (Dr. She-Woong Jeong) since April 2012. This transaction is expected to close by the end of September.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Seagate Technology click here. For more ratings news on Seagate Technology click here.

You May Also Be Interested In

• TD Cowen Reiterates Buy Rating on Seagate Technology (STX)
• Moncler SpA (MONC:IM) (MONRY) PT Raised to EUR69 at RBC Capital
• Intermediate Capital Group (ICP:LN) (ICGUF) PT Raised to GBP22.50 at Citi