Pacer Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. has reduced its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. by 56.4%, selling 20,490 shares and now holds 15,810 shares valued at approximately $304,000.
• Despite a decrease in quarterly revenue by 2.2% year-over-year, Franklin Resources exceeded earnings expectations with $0.49 EPS compared to a consensus of $0.46.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32, representing an annualized dividend yield of 5.3%, although the dividend payout ratio stands at a high 188.24%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 56.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,810 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 20,490 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 8,789 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,245 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 47,544 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $964,000 after buying an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 147.1% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $14.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, June 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.42.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock traded up $1.19 on Monday, hitting $25.14. 4,947,930 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,222,649. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $23.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.06. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $25.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $13.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.46.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 3.73%. Franklin Resources's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. 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 (DPR) is 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.