AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 2,062,287 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. by 68%, selling over 2 million shares, and now holds about 0.18% of the company valued at approximately $18.4 million.
• Franklin Resources reported $0.49 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, although revenues were down 2.2% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, representing a dividend yield of 5.2%, with a payout ratio of 250.98%.

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 68.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 971,449 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 2,062,287 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.18% of Franklin Resources worth $18,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 464,238 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $8,937,000 after buying an additional 85,407 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth approximately $203,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 81,576 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,573,000 after buying an additional 4,530 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth approximately $811,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 476,253 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $9,168,000 after buying an additional 19,673 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on BEN shares. Zacks Research downgraded Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $23.58.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $24.36. 2,601,160 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,353,755. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $24.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.77, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.51. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $16.25 and a one year high of $26.08.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 250.98%.

Franklin Resources 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.