Franklin Resources Inc. Has $198.58 Million Holdings in Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in shares of Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,519,360 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,037,935 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.55% of Flex worth $198,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FLEX. FMR LLC boosted its position in Flex by 0.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,662,657 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,204,998,000 after acquiring an additional 247,024 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Flex by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,967,046 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $272,891,000 after purchasing an additional 624,414 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Flex by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 7,047,273 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $214,660,000 after purchasing an additional 51,068 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Flex by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,581,270 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $150,583,000 after purchasing an additional 302,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Flex during the 4th quarter worth about $165,000,000. 94.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flex Stock Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ:FLEX traded up $0.81 on Wednesday, hitting $30.56. The stock had a trading volume of 1,289,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,806,810. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market cap of $12.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.18. Flex Ltd. has a 1 year low of $21.84 and a 1 year high of $30.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.20.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. Flex had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 16.46%. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Analysts predict that Flex Ltd. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Flex

In other news, CAO Daniel Wendler sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.89, for a total transaction of $53,735.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $830,009.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP David Scott Offer sold 34,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.65, for a total value of $976,879.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 145,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,174,075.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Daniel Wendler sold 1,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.89, for a total transaction of $53,735.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $830,009.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 320,451 shares of company stock worth $9,259,452 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FLEX shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Flex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Flex from $29.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Flex from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Flex from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Craig Hallum cut shares of Flex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Flex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.83.

About Flex

Flex Ltd. provides technology, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Flex Agility Solutions (FAS), Flex Reliability Solutions (FRS), and Nextracker. The FAS segment offers flexible supply and manufacturing system comprising communications, enterprise and cloud solution, which includes data, edge, and communications infrastructure; lifestyle solution including appliances, consumer packaging, floorcare, micro mobility, and audio; and consumer devices, such as mobile and high velocity consumer devices.