PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 67,250 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 4,479 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 240.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 882 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 149.1% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,111 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Tobam increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2,170.0% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 1,135 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BEN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $25.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $22.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.25. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.57 and a 1-year high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 11.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.86%.

About Franklin Resources

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.