New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Sells 171,268 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. by 71.8% in the first quarter, now owning 67,217 shares valued at approximately $1.29 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have adjusted their stakes in Franklin Resources, with Principal Financial Group increasing its stake by 22.5% and Envestnet Asset Management raising its stake by 230.1%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on the stock, with Goldman Sachs upgrading it to a "buy" at a target price of $29.00, while emphasizing that Franklin Resources has an average target price of $23.42.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 71.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,217 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 171,268 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 173.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,531,700 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $71,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241,500 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,935,292 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $59,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673,971 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,438,863 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $130,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,849 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,403,875 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $190,805,000 after buying an additional 1,542,478 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 336.0% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 786,722 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $15,963,000 after buying an additional 1,120,022 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. TD Cowen raised Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $14.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.42.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,460,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,343,611. The company has a market cap of $12.97 billion, a PE ratio of 49.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.75 and a 200-day moving average of $21.23. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.25 and a 52 week high of $25.42.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 250.98%.

About Franklin Resources

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.