Barclays PLC Cuts Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Barclays PLC reduced its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,641,771 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 215,214 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.31% of Franklin Resources worth $33,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BEN. Interval Partners LP lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 108,894 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $2,434,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 0.8% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 69,585 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 0.7% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 88,195 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 2.5% in the second quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 26,032 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 0.3% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 322,860 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $6,506,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BEN. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.66.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.97. The company had a trading volume of 2,497,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,020,594. The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $21.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.60. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Franklin Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.83%. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is presently 148.84%.

Insider Activity at Franklin Resources

In other Franklin Resources news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 8,467 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.69, for a total value of $369,923.23. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 51,019 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,020.11. This trade represents a 14.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375. Company insiders own 24.13% of the company's stock.

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.