Kinloch Capital LLC Trims Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Kinloch Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 16.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,998 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 26,471 shares during the period. Kinloch Capital LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $3,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 277.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 129.1% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Barclays set a $31.00 price target on Franklin Resources and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $33.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a PE ratio of 25.26, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.02 and a 200 day moving average of $26.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.10 and a 12 month high of $34.17.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.76%.

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.