Elevated Capital Advisors LLC Sells 30,825 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Elevated Capital Advisors LLC cut its Franklin Resources stake by 87% in Q1, selling 30,825 shares and leaving it with 4,612 shares worth about $109,000.
• Franklin Resources reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.71 versus $0.55 expected and revenue of $1.75 billion, up 8.7% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 3.9%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $31.62.

Elevated Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 87.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,612 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 30,825 shares during the quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,561 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 2,732 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $941,000. Unison Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.5% during the first quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 114,449 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $2,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,824 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 26.2% during the first quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 30,465 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $720,000 after acquiring an additional 6,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 33.7% during the first quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors now owns 19,534 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 4,923 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $33.50 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $32.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $34.92. The company has a market capitalization of $17.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.54.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Franklin Resources's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Evercore reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.62.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm's core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton's product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.