SlateStone Wealth LLC Trims Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

SlateStone Wealth LLC reduced its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,076 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $880,000. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,857,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,192 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $7,681,000 after buying an additional 32,490 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 78.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 62,076 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after buying an additional 27,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $60,421,000 after buying an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $19.56 on Monday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.83 and a fifty-two week high of $28.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $20.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 196.92%.

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.