Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Sold by American International Group Inc.

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 6th, 2023

American International Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN – Get Rating) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,906 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 1,856 shares during the period. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,909,926 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $761,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,384,798 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 202.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,126,650 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $59,377,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,044 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 30.9% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,507,038 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $153,758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,227,301 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $190,656,000 after acquiring an additional 866,329 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.47% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $25.04 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.54 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.48. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.24 and a 12-month high of $34.37.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The company’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In other Franklin Resources news, insider Franklin Resources Inc bought 2,465,483 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction on Friday, April 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.14 per share, for a total transaction of $24,999,997.62. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 4,955,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,248,597.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 23.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BEN. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.55.

Franklin Resources Profile

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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.