Everence Capital Management Inc. Has $918,000 Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 86.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,560 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,130 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 15,001 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,213,663 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,605,000 after buying an additional 411,931 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 124.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,068 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 1,148 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 18,092 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 5,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Franklin Resources by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 87,645 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,766,000 after buying an additional 14,332 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN stock traded down $0.26 on Monday, hitting $20.72. 1,373,615 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,986,098. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.94 and a 12 month high of $30.32. The stock has a market cap of $10.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.44 and a 200 day moving average of $22.41.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 10.24%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.98%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total transaction of $345,309.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,596,245.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.08 per share, with a total value of $1,908,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 89,308,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total transaction of $345,309.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,596,245.49. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares valued at $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.