Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Sold by Candriam S.C.A.

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. sold 17,169 shares of Franklin Resources, reducing its holdings by 27.0% to 46,335 shares, valued at approximately $892,000.
• Franklin Resources reported earnings of $0.49 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates, but revenue was down 2.2% year-over-year.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Franklin Resources, with Barclays maintaining an "underweight" rating and setting a price target of $23.00, while Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to "buy" with a target of $29.00.

Candriam S.C.A. lessened its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 27.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,335 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 17,169 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BEN. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 173.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,531,700 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $71,658,000 after acquiring an additional 2,241,500 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 132.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,935,292 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $59,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673,971 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,403,875 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $190,805,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,478 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 20.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,223,369 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $139,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 336.0% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 786,722 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $15,963,000 after buying an additional 1,120,022 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on BEN. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $23.58.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $25.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,367,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,452,280. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $24.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.69. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $26.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company has a market capitalization of $13.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.46.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for 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 company's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is 250.98%.

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.