KBC Group NV decreased its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN – Free Report) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 121,840 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 26,458 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $432,730,000 after buying an additional 599,045 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $147,312,000 after buying an additional 422,688 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,421,000 after buying an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 22.9% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,213,663 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,605,000 after buying an additional 411,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 263.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $40,744,000 after buying an additional 1,465,148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts have issued reports on BEN shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.50 to $20.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.18.
Franklin Resources Trading Up 10.3 %
Franklin Resources stock opened at $22.22 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.83 and a 12 month high of $28.61. The stock has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.41.
Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Franklin Resources Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This is a boost from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.76%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.84%.
Franklin Resources Company 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.
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