S&CO Inc. Lowers Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

S&CO Inc. cut its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 33.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,495 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 23,250 shares during the period. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.5% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 12,287 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.5% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 7.7% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,354 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 9,351 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 13,303 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Evercore upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $27.70 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.46. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $27.94.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.15. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 6.97%.The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

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

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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.