Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Sold by Cwm LLC

CWM LLC reduced its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 17.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,185 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 26,860 shares during the quarter. CWM LLC's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 147.1% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 350.4% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the first quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.92.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of BEN stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.60. 3,943,251 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,541,867. The stock has a market cap of $12.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock's fifty day moving average is $22.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.71. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $25.36.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 9.13%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. Franklin Resources's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.20%. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is 188.24%.

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.