IFM Investors Pty Ltd Cuts Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd cut its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 4.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 63,879 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 3,124 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BEN. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 148.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 65,100 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,939,000 after buying an additional 38,919 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,491,598 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $44,435,000 after buying an additional 144,843 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,188,199 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $35,396,000 after buying an additional 414,826 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 13.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 966,212 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $23,749,000 after buying an additional 110,806 shares during the period. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 7.2% during the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 14,873 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BEN shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of BEN stock traded down $0.10 on Friday, hitting $24.99. The stock had a trading volume of 7,535,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,588,434. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.37. The company has a market cap of $13.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $21.88 and a one year high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 11.15%. The firm’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. Research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.96%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

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.