QRG Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

QRG Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 60.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,591 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 35,968 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,661 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 82.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,307 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 2,855 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 59,818 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 37,358 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 3,669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 170.3% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 148,750 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $3,018,000 after acquiring an additional 93,724 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BEN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE BEN traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $23.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,788,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,501,666. The company has a market capitalization of $12.34 billion, a PE ratio of 34.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.43. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $21.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.32. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.25 and a 1-year high of $24.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

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

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.45%. Franklin Resources's payout ratio 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.