Voloridge Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,143,463 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 431,354 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned about 0.60% of Franklin Resources worth $63,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in Franklin Resources by 147.1% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 350.4% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 561.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BEN shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 report on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $21.53. 3,287,948 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,364,037. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.27. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.25 and a 52 week 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. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.95%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.