Millennium Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Millennium Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,634,687 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 239,827 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.31% of Franklin Resources worth $33,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BEN. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 147.1% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 350.4% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted 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 period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 561.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE BEN traded down $0.09 on Friday, hitting $21.53. The company had a trading volume of 3,287,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,364,037. The company has a market capitalization of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. The company's fifty day moving average price is $19.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $24.37.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The firm's revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is presently 188.24%.

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.