Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Reduces Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lessened its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,306 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 1,970 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 240.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 882 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 975.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,140 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on BEN. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. 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. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.39.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:BEN opened at $25.41 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.40. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.88 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.