Cwm LLC Sells 2,638 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Cwm LLC trimmed its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 12.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,142 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 2,638 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter worth approximately $61,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Franklin Resources news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,208,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,769,890,529.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $336,142.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 65,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,341.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.84 per share, for a total transaction of $1,984,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,890,529.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 231,600 shares of company stock worth $4,537,637 and have sold 24,024 shares worth $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BEN. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.73.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $20.98 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.41. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.60%. As a group, analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 70.86%.

Franklin Resources Company 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.