Cinctive Capital Management LP Takes $838,000 Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 41,570 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $838,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BEN. Interval Partners LP boosted its position 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 valued at $2,434,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 69,585 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 88,195 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 26,032 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whitener Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,149 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.67. The stock had a trading volume of 8,167,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,021,628. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm's 50 day moving average is $21.00 and its 200 day moving average is $21.66. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $30.32.

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

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.65%. This is a boost from Franklin Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BEN. Barclays dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In related news, 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 transaction of $369,923.23. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,229,020.11. The trade was a 14.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,704,000,303.36. The trade was a 0.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375. 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.