Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Holdings Cut by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. by 3.7%, selling 265,909 shares and holding 6,957,475 shares as of the most recent filing.
• The quarterly dividend announced by Franklin Resources is set at $0.32 per share, with a yield of 5.2%, and will be paid on October 10th.
• Several analysts have upgraded their price targets for Franklin Resources, with Goldman Sachs raising its target to $29.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,957,475 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 265,909 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 1.32% of Franklin Resources worth $133,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 127.0% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 83,508 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $1,608,000 after acquiring an additional 46,717 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Franklin Resources by 169.3% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,909 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 4,972 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 7.7% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 82,215 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 5,898 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,685,121 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $32,439,000 after purchasing an additional 50,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 148,049 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $2,850,000 after purchasing an additional 30,763 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. Zacks Research downgraded Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $23.00 target price (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $23.58.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Franklin Resources stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.41. The company had a trading volume of 316,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,399,044. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.25 and a fifty-two week high of $26.08. The firm's fifty day moving average is $24.93 and its 200-day moving average is $22.11. The company has a market cap of $12.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.51.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%.The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Franklin Resources's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is currently 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.