Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 88,863 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,307,273 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 88,863 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $31,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,751 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.5% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 102,708 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 12,287 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 122,857 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BEN. Evercore increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $22.76 on Friday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.25 and a twelve month high of $28.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.31. The firm has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.46.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 6.97%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.