Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Sold by Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc.

Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,216 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 1,360 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources makes up about 1.7% of Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $432,730,000 after acquiring an additional 599,045 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $147,312,000 after purchasing an additional 422,688 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $60,421,000 after purchasing an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,923,399 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $59,316,000 after buying an additional 709,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 263.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $40,744,000 after buying an additional 1,465,148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:BEN opened at $20.50 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.42. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.83 and a 1-year high of $28.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 196.93%.

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.