Vest Financial LLC reduced its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 6.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,728,878 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 194,521 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.52% of Franklin Resources worth $52,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 350.4% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 561.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,661 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cowen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.25.
Check Out Our Latest Report on BEN
Franklin Resources Stock Performance
Shares of BEN traded up $0.15 on Friday, reaching $21.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,949,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,472,827. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.69, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.43. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $19.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.30. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is 188.24%.
About Franklin Resources
(
Free Report)
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.
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