Inlight Wealth Management LLC Has $61,000 Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Inlight Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 79.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,179 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 12,358 shares during the period. Inlight Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $61,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 43,687 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 8,789 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 83,549 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,695,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 47,544 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $964,000 after purchasing an additional 708 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 research firms have recently issued reports on BEN. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.1%

BEN traded down $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.21. 2,647,584 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,497,604. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.25 and a twelve month high of $24.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.43. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $20.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.30.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 4.65%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.51%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 188.24%.

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.