Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Sold by Capital Analysts LLC

Capital Analysts LLC trimmed its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 19.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,026 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 476 shares during the quarter. Capital Analysts LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $60,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,072,606 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $951,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390,583 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,693,626 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $242,726,000 after buying an additional 80,446 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,563,774 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $161,338,000 after buying an additional 415,512 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,833,431 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $134,950,000 after buying an additional 345,868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,052,116 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $106,895,000 after buying an additional 291,042 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BEN. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.50.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN opened at $25.15 on Friday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.88 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.28. The stock has a market cap of $13.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.07. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 12.30%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.26%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries.