Sanctuary Advisors LLC Takes $352,000 Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 16,041 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 14.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 128,240 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,866,000 after buying an additional 16,347 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 45.3% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 85,703 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 26,735 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 173.1% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 73,313 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,639,000 after buying an additional 46,469 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth $88,000. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 10.1% in the second quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 11,746 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.66.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 8,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.69, for a total value of $369,923.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 51,019 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,020.11. This trade represents a 14.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,024 shares of company stock worth $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE BEN opened at $20.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $30.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.82 billion, a PE ratio of 24.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.45.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, research 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. This is an increase from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.84%.

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.