Toronto Dominion Bank cut its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN – Free Report) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 136,247 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 11,542 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $3,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 937.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,576,101 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,200 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 202.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,126,650 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $59,377,000 after buying an additional 1,424,044 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $951,307,000 after buying an additional 1,390,583 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,423,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,507,038 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $153,758,000 after buying an additional 1,298,729 shares during the last quarter. 46.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
BEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $25.50 to $26.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $24.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $25.25.
Franklin Resources Price Performance
Franklin Resources stock opened at $26.87 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.97. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $20.24 and a one year high of $34.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.89. The firm has a market cap of $13.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79 and a beta of 1.28.
Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.43% and a net margin of 10.51%. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 29th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.00%.
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.
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