Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Sells 806 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,879 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 806 shares during the period. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BEN. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In related news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson acquired 18,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.95 per share, with a total value of $395,955.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 216,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,544,055. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson acquired 18,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.95 per share, with a total value of $395,955.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 216,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,055. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.08 per share, with a total value of $1,908,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,704,000,303.36. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637 in the last quarter. Insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $20.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 10.24%. On average, research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.94%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.86%.

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.