Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 51,045 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 292,337 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 51,045 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $6,762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 3,869.2% in the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,032 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 177.1% in the 2nd quarter. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. now owns 1,283 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 5,180.0% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 2,112 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 2,072 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 80.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,777 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BEN. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $24.64.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN opened at $26.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.96. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $26.25. The company has a market capitalization of $13.57 billion, a PE ratio of 28.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.44.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.12% and a net margin of 5.98%.The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 30th. This is a boost from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 145.05%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.