Capital Analysts LLC Has $60,000 Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Capital Analysts LLC lowered its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,026 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 476 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $60,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BEN. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its position 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 buying an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on BEN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. TD Cowen began coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $25.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.06 and a 200-day moving average of $26.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 12.30%. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.93%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.26%.

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.