Bastion Asset Management Inc. Sells 105,111 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Bastion Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 46.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,307 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 105,111 shares during the period. Bastion Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 32,101 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $766,000 after buying an additional 11,432 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 22.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 464,238 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $8,937,000 after acquiring an additional 85,407 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the first quarter worth approximately $203,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at approximately $811,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.3% during the first quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 37,856 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $24.27.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $23.30 on Friday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $26.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.19.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 250.98%.

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.