Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 2,072 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,718 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 2,072 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 240.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 882 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 975.5% during the third quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,140 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 149.1% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,111 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.50.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.7 %

BEN stock opened at $25.58 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.88 and a 1-year high of $30.32. The stock has a market cap of $13.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.40.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 12.30%. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.85%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

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.