Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $34.63 Million Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 56.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,706,890 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 2,183,041 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.33% of Franklin Resources worth $34,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $880,000. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at about $1,857,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Franklin Resources by 9.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,192 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $7,681,000 after acquiring an additional 32,490 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 78.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 62,076 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 27,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $60,421,000 after purchasing an additional 925,590 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BEN. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of 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, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.86.

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Franklin Resources Trading Down 2.0 %

Franklin Resources stock traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $19.63. The stock had a trading volume of 4,016,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,260,004. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $20.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.60. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $18.83 and a one year high of $28.61. The stock has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.52%. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is 196.92%.

Franklin Resources 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.