Franklin Resources Inc. Has $197.84 Million Holdings in Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX - Free Report) by 29.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,778,811 shares of the data storage provider's stock after acquiring an additional 405,232 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.84% of Seagate Technology worth $197,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of STX. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Seagate Technology in the 2nd quarter valued at $255,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,612 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,716,000 after purchasing an additional 3,507 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,363 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Seagate Technology by 30.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,613 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Seagate Technology in the 2nd quarter valued at $151,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Seagate Technology Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of STX traded down $1.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $95.75. The company had a trading volume of 4,938,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,352,375. The company's 50 day moving average price is $102.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.24. The stock has a market cap of $20.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00 and a beta of 1.03. Seagate Technology Holdings plc has a 52 week low of $79.39 and a 52 week high of $115.32.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.28. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 11.34% and a negative return on equity of 32.19%. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.34) EPS. The company's revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Seagate Technology Holdings plc will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Seagate Technology's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on STX. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Seagate Technology from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Seagate Technology from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Seagate Technology in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Seagate Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Benchmark restated a "hold" rating on shares of Seagate Technology in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $118.83.

Insider Activity at Seagate Technology

In other Seagate Technology news, CEO William D. Mosley sold 141,785 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.18, for a total transaction of $15,621,871.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 668,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at $73,668,110.88. The trade was a 17.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Yolanda Lee Conyers sold 750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.82, for a total transaction of $76,365.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at $667,430.10. The trade was a 10.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 221,961 shares of company stock valued at $23,967,629 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.81% 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.