Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) CFO Matthew Nicholls Sells 160,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• CFO Matthew Nicholls sold 160,000 Franklin Resources shares for about $5.79 million at an average price of $36.20, reducing his direct stake by 17.12% to 774,348 shares.
• Franklin Resources reported quarterly EPS of $0.94, beating the $0.77 consensus, while revenue of $1.88 billion also topped estimates and rose 3.9% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $36.78; TD Cowen raised its target to $44 and assigned a Buy rating.

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) CFO Matthew Nicholls sold 160,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.20, for a total value of $5,792,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 774,348 shares in the company, valued at $28,031,397.60. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE BEN traded down $0.62 on Thursday, hitting $35.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,670,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,695,260. The stock has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The business's fifty day moving average price is $32.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.54. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $36.79.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The closed-end fund reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 11.42%. The company's revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on BEN. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank restated a "hold" rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.78.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth about $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth about $152,692,000. Kopernik Global Investors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 3,522,587 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $83,204,000 after purchasing an additional 153,422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,964,424 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $46,400,000 after purchasing an additional 533,192 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc. is a global investment management company that operates under the Franklin Templeton name. It offers investment products and services to individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and other clients, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and separately managed accounts. The company invests across a range of asset classes and strategies, including equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios and alternative investments. Its services also include retirement solutions and wealth management.

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