Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Decreases Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,533 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 1,140 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $454,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 74.3% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 151,079 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $3,044,000 after purchasing an additional 64,383 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 129.6% during the 3rd quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 42,746 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $862,000 after acquiring an additional 24,130 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $147,312,000 after acquiring an additional 422,688 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,635,491 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $32,955,000 after acquiring an additional 212,422 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 13,457 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.50 to $22.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.66.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:BEN opened at $19.97 on Friday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.94 and a 12 month high of $30.32. The business’s 50-day moving average is $21.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.46 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This is an increase from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.41%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 148.84%.

Insider Activity at Franklin Resources

In related news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 8,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,020.11. This represents a 14.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375. Corporate insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

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.