Wellington Management Group LLP Decreases Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Wellington Management cut its Franklin Resources stake by 47.5% in the second quarter, selling 52,989 shares and retaining 58,593 shares worth approximately $1.95 million. Institutional investors collectively own 47.56% of the company.
• Franklin Resources reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $0.72 versus the $0.66 consensus and revenue of $2.36 billion, up 14.3% year over year and well above estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33, equivalent to an annualized $1.32 payout and a 3.9% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $33.00, below the stock’s $33.72 opening price.

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 47.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,593 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 52,989 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $961,845,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,882,860 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $259,988,000 after purchasing an additional 816,952 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,122,937 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $241,837,000 after buying an additional 768,707 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,495 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $192,774,000 after buying an additional 272,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,083,168 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $169,217,000 after buying an additional 243,836 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $33.72 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $17.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.54. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $36.28.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. Franklin Resources's revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is 89.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 31st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.00.

Franklin Resources Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton name, is a global investment management organization. The company provides investment solutions for individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and retirement plans through a broad range of strategies and investment vehicles.

Its offerings include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton manages strategies across equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios, alternatives and other specialized areas, while also providing investment research, portfolio management and wealth-management services.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.

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