Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $1.85 Million Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 62,130 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 2,178 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BEN. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 27,592 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 3,354 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 64,254 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 38,336 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $895,000 after purchasing an additional 4,202 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 77,895 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,914,000 after purchasing an additional 20,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 61,202 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on BEN. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $25.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $23.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.32 and a 200-day moving average of $26.38. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.88 and a 12 month high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.