Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Sold by Allianz Asset Management GmbH

Allianz Asset Management GmbH reduced its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 685,476 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 31,930 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned 0.13% of Franklin Resources worth $16,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Franklin Resources by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,985,065 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $230,713,000 after acquiring an additional 263,619 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Franklin Resources by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,223,369 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $139,040,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220,419 shares during the period. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. increased its position in Franklin Resources by 99.1% in the 1st quarter. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. now owns 5,237,650 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $100,825,000 after acquiring an additional 2,607,460 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,778,910 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $72,009,000 after purchasing an additional 26,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,392,081 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $65,298,000 after purchasing an additional 305,736 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $24.08.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN opened at $22.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of 44.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.76. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.25 and a fifty-two week high of $26.08.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 250.98%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BEN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.