Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Sold by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp lowered its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,968 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 1,596 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 254.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on BEN. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.50 to $22.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group cut their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.66.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 5.6 %

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $20.14 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.56. The company has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.36%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In related news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 8,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.69, for a total transaction of $369,923.23. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 51,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,020.11. This trade represents a 14.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 24,024 shares of company stock worth $1,051,375 over the last 90 days. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.