Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,826 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,520 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 1,826 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $793,983,000 after buying an additional 4,043,808 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,067,780 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $91,398,000 after purchasing an additional 154,850 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,878,337 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $55,956,000 after purchasing an additional 37,474 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $49,547,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,491,598 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $44,435,000 after buying an additional 144,843 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $22.80 per share, with a total value of $4,560,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 88,703,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,022,432,777.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $22.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.44. 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.16.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 11.09%. The company had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.86%.

Franklin Resources 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.