State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 7,358 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 7.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,657 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 7,358 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BEN. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 49.9% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in Franklin Resources by 78.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,139 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in Franklin Resources by 79.8% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,802 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional grew its position in Franklin Resources by 245.1% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,379 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $22.94 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The business’s 50-day moving average is $23.92 and its 200-day moving average is $23.02. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $26.08.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%.The firm’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 250.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BEN. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $23.83.

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.