Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 1.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 37,250,326 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 555,938 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Franklin Resources worth $861,600,000 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 the business. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Franklin Resources by 11.2% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,846 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,101,000 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $48,596,000 after buying an additional 554,842 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 214,576 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $4,963,000 after buying an additional 71,384 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 223,939 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $5,233,000 after buying an additional 13,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $216,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $27.67 on Monday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.25 and a fifty-two week high of $28.32. The company has a market cap of $14.41 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 1.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.31.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 9.58%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 122.22%.

Franklin Resources 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.