Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Sold by OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp cut its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 33.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,936 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 34,187 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,715,809 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $765,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,373 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,721,446 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $237,828,000 after buying an additional 1,011,755 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,438,863 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $130,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,849 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,002,950 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $121,797,000 after purchasing an additional 460,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 62.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,752,326 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $75,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449,210 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. TD Cowen raised Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Cowen upgraded Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE BEN traded down $0.05 on Tuesday, hitting $22.16. The company had a trading volume of 2,911,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,340,705. The company has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a PE ratio of 34.09, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $24.37. The company's fifty day moving average price is $19.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.25.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

About Franklin Resources

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.