Bank of America Corp DE Sells 434,394 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 42.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 597,793 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 434,394 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.11% of Franklin Resources worth $12,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 350.4% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Franklin Resources by 44.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in Franklin Resources by 561.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,677 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BEN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.2%

BEN stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.16. 405,491 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,351,283. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $24.37.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. The company's revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 188.24%.

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.