Verition Fund Management LLC cut its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN – Get Rating) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,874 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 783 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 13,387 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 53.2% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 55,000 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 19,100 shares during the period. Prudential PLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 10,157 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 55.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,492 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 11,553 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 153,147 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 14,339 shares during the period. 45.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms recently issued reports on BEN. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.27.
Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources
Franklin Resources Trading Up 1.8 %
Shares of BEN stock opened at $29.59 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.66. The company has a current ratio of 4.97, a quick ratio of 4.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $14.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10 and a beta of 1.27. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.24 and a twelve month high of $34.37.
Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.03). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.52% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The company had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.
Franklin Resources Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 61.22%.
About Franklin Resources
Franklin Resources, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of investment management and related services. The firm offers services and products under various distinct brand names, including, but not limited to, Franklin, Templeton, Legg Mason, Benefit Street Partners, Brandywine Global Investment Management, Clarion Partners, ClearBridge Investments, Fiduciary Trust International, Franklin Bissett, Franklin Mutual Series, K2, LibertyShares, Martin Currie, Royce Investment Partners and Western Asset Management Company.
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