Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 29,336 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 568,795 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 29,336 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.11% of Franklin Resources worth $10,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BEN. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 464,238 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $8,937,000 after buying an additional 85,407 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth approximately $203,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 81,576 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,573,000 after buying an additional 4,530 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth approximately $811,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 230.1% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 291,821 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $5,921,000 after buying an additional 203,414 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BEN shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. TD Cowen raised 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.92.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of BEN traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,633,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,686,025. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.12 and a 200 day moving average of $20.83. The company has a market cap of $13.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.45. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $25.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 4.65%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is 188.24%.

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.