Barclays PLC Sells 137,772 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Barclays PLC reduced its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 10.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,145,738 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 137,772 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.22% of Franklin Resources worth $26,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 5.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,065,908 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $232,833,000 after buying an additional 553,184 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $77,192,000 after purchasing an additional 80,146 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth about $76,051,000. Kopernik Global Investors LLC lifted 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 worth $67,826,000 after buying an additional 407,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,618,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BEN shares. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Evercore upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of BEN stock opened at $24.98 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.44. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $28.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $13.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 122.22%.

Franklin Resources 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.