Apollon Wealth Management LLC Sells 11,568 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Apollon Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. by 42.4%, selling 11,568 shares during the second quarter, leaving it with 15,709 shares valued at $375,000.
• Brokerage ratings for Franklin Resources are mixed, with Zacks Research downgrading it to a "hold" rating, while JPMorgan Chase raised its price target from $22.00 to $29.00.
• Franklin Resources declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32, yielding 5.7%, with a high dividend payout ratio of 250.98%.

Apollon Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 42.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,709 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 11,568 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 49.9% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,245 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 20,968 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.8% during the first quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 25,972 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 39.4% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BEN. Zacks Research downgraded Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $24.08.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.8%

Franklin Resources stock opened at $22.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.67, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.50. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.25 and a fifty-two week high of $26.08. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $24.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.55.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%.The firm's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is presently 250.98%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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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