DnB Asset Management AS Reduces Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

DnB Asset Management AS reduced its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 76.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,311 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 176,207 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $880,000. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 159,738 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $3,241,000 after purchasing an additional 27,169 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $432,730,000 after buying an additional 599,045 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 93,789 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,903,000 after buying an additional 24,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 263.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $40,744,000 after buying an additional 1,465,148 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of 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 raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.2 %

BEN opened at $19.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.74 and a 12 month high of $28.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.57. The stock has a market cap of $10.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 196.92%.

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.