Hsbc Holdings PLC Has $14.90 Million Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 49.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 624,543 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 612,954 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.12% of Franklin Resources worth $14,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Franklin Resources by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,985,065 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $230,713,000 after purchasing an additional 263,619 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.1% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,677,417 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $206,956,000 after buying an additional 97,708 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Franklin Resources by 20.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,223,369 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $139,040,000 after buying an additional 1,220,419 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 99.1% during the first quarter. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. now owns 5,237,650 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $100,825,000 after acquiring an additional 2,607,460 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,778,910 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $72,009,000 after acquiring an additional 26,584 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.5%

BEN opened at $22.44 on Wednesday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.25 and a 1-year high of $26.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.52.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 9.12%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BEN shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research cut Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $23.91.

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.