Lumature Wealth Partners LLC Lowers Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 13th, 2023

Lumature Wealth Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN – Get Rating) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,564 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 389 shares during the period. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 7.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,909,926 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $761,187,000 after acquiring an additional 2,384,798 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,072,606 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $951,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390,583 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 80,446 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,227,301 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $190,656,000 after acquiring an additional 866,329 shares during the period. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 0.8% during the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,903,235 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $148,558,000 after acquiring an additional 54,240 shares during the period. 45.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In other Franklin Resources news, insider Franklin Resources Inc bought 2,465,483 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.14 per share, for a total transaction of $24,999,997.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,955,483 shares in the company, valued at $50,248,597.62. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 23.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BEN shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $20.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Bank of America reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.55.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $26.39 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $25.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.24 and a 1-year high of $34.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Investors of record on Friday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

About Franklin Resources

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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.