O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Sells 5,348 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 22.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,908 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 5,348 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 561.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,661 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 30.2% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,604 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Franklin Resources by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,677 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,937 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,147 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $17.89 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.37. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $26.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $9.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.36.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 196.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.63.

About Franklin Resources

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.