Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 19,922 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Yousif Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 299,250 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 19,922 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Franklin Resources worth $6,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 263.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the 3rd 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. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $432,730,000 after purchasing an additional 599,045 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 76.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,290,200 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $25,998,000 after purchasing an additional 560,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.1% in 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 period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BEN shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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 report on Tuesday, November 5th. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $20.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $20.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.83 and a 12-month high of $28.61.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.41% and a net margin of 4.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 196.93%.

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.