Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Insider Sells $369,923.23 in Stock

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 8,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were 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 directly owns 51,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,020.11. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Franklin Resources Inc also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, October 18th, Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of Franklin Resources stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total value of $345,309.00.
• On Monday, October 14th, Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of Franklin Resources stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $336,142.30.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 1.5 %

Franklin Resources stock traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,748,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,999,031. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $20.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.53.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 10.24%. On average, analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BEN. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.73.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Power Corp of Canada lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 18,266.0% during the first quarter. Power Corp of Canada now owns 31,557,117 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $887,071,000 after purchasing an additional 31,385,293 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 11.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,889,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,008,853,000 after acquiring an additional 3,592,943 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 250.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $54,664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751,587 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 517.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,406,324 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $31,431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 110.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,236 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $36,279,000 after acquiring an additional 851,442 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.