Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Has $35,000 Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC cut its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 53.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,735 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 2,010 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 0.8% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 69,585 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. Hardy Reed LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 16,721 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 30.2% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,604 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.2% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,485 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $20.11 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $10.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.56. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.83 and a fifty-two week high of $28.15.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 196.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on BEN. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.86.

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.