US Bancorp DE Lowers Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

US Bancorp DE lowered its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,810 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 4,252 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.3% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 322,860 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $6,506,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 19,426 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 2,976 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 34,997 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 2,430 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 27.7% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 72,275 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,467,000 after purchasing an additional 15,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 46.0% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 151,000 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 47,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BEN. StockNews.com cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $21.49 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.32 and its 200 day moving average is $21.85. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $30.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.38.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 5.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.77%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,769,890,529.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total transaction of $336,142.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 65,862 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,341.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.84 per share, for a total transaction of $1,984,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,769,890,529.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares valued at $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Franklin Resources Company 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.