Pacer Advisors Inc. Cuts Holdings 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. lessened its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 56.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm 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 SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BEN. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at approximately $186,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 102,089 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $1,965,000 after acquiring an additional 13,578 shares in the last quarter. Unison Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 109,613 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $2,145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 650,888 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $12,530,000 after acquiring an additional 15,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 37.0% in the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 145,512 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $2,801,000 after acquiring an additional 39,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Franklin Resources from $14.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $23.42.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.2%

BEN traded down $0.05 on Wednesday, hitting $25.21. 1,895,514 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,601,555. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.25 and a twelve month high of $25.42. The company has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.12.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.98%.

Franklin Resources Company 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.