Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Sold by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. significantly reduced its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. by 70.8% during the second quarter, now owning 139,135 shares worth approximately $3.3 million.
• Several brokerages have updated their price targets for Franklin Resources, with JPMorgan raising it to $29.00 and BMO Capital Markets issuing an "outperform" rating with a target of $26.00.
• Franklin Resources announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, representing an annualized yield of 5.5%, although its dividend payout ratio is notably high at 250.98%.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. trimmed its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 70.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 139,135 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 337,118 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.'s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $3,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BEN. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Friday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $24.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $23.15 on Tuesday. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $24.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.02 billion, a PE ratio of 45.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.50. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $26.08.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for 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 business's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.98%.

Franklin Resources 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.

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