Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Sold by Insight Folios Inc

Insight Folios Inc reduced its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 8.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,964 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 3,781 shares during the quarter. Insight Folios Inc’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 240.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 882 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 149.1% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,111 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Tobam grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2,170.0% during the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 1,135 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $25.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN stock traded up $0.21 on Thursday, hitting $22.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,828,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,244,831. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.57 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The stock has a market cap of $11.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $23.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The company had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.80 per share, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 88,703,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,022,432,777.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

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.