Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Trims Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 13th, 2023

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN – Free Report) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,700 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. ETF Managers Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.5% during the first quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC now owns 26,299 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $708,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the period. My Legacy Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 10,774 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 2.6% during the first quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,884 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.4% in the first quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 14,888 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mariann H. Byerwalter sold 6,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $144,324.11. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,960.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 23.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $24.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $24.41.

Read Our Latest Research Report on BEN

Franklin Resources Stock Down 3.5 %

NYSE:BEN opened at $22.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.30 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $25.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.28. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.24 and a 1-year high of $34.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.89.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.43% and a net margin of 10.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.24%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 75.00%.

About Franklin Resources

(Free Report)

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.