Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its stake in Franklin Resources by 0.4% (sold 140,540 shares) but still holds 37,109,786 shares—about 7.12% of the company valued at roughly $886.6 million.
• Other institutions meaningfully increased or initiated positions—Northern Trust (+49.8%), Squarepoint (+381.7%), Two Sigma (+167.5%) and PSP (+1,109%)—leaving institutional ownership at about 47.56%.
• Franklin beat Q1 expectations (EPS $0.71 vs. $0.55; revenue $1.75B vs. $1.70B, +8.7% YoY) and pays a $0.33 quarterly dividend (annualized yield ~4.4%) but has a high payout ratio (~100.8%); analysts are mixed with a consensus Hold and $28.56 target.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,109,786 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 140,540 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 7.12% of Franklin Resources worth $886,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth about $51,384,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 49.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,118,686 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $95,265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370,132 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 381.7% during the third quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,433,816 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $33,164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,174 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 167.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,494,817 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $34,575,000 after acquiring an additional 936,105 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 1,109.0% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 775,490 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $17,937,000 after acquiring an additional 711,347 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN stock opened at $29.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $15.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.70. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.80 and a 52 week high of $30.36.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.56.

Franklin Resources 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.

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