Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers reduced its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 65.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,511 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 166,976 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,676,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,438,863 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $130,645,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,849 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,752,326 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $75,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449,210 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 336.0% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 786,722 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $15,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120,022 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,715,809 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $765,254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095,373 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on BEN. UBS Group lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Cowen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN opened at $22.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.25 and a 1-year high of $24.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.25.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.