Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 21.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,839,332 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 1,838,085 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 1.32% of Franklin Resources worth $158,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Franklin Resources by 2.5% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,236,553 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $77,192,000 after buying an additional 80,146 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth about $76,051,000. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,904,475 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $69,272,000 after acquiring an additional 175,597 shares in the last quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 2,843,849 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $67,826,000 after acquiring an additional 407,867 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,618,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:BEN opened at $27.24 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $14.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.46. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.25 and a twelve month high of $27.94. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $24.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 9.58%. Franklin Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 122.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BEN shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Evercore upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $25.89.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.