Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 26,540 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Independent Advisor Alliance reduced its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 37.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,922 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 26,540 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 263.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $40,744,000 after buying an additional 1,465,148 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 62.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,752,326 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $75,928,000 after buying an additional 1,449,210 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 44.7% during 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 buying an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,923,399 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $59,316,000 after buying an additional 709,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $432,730,000 after buying an additional 599,045 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Franklin Resources Stock Up 3.4 %

BEN stock traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $19.56. The stock had a trading volume of 3,424,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,255,947. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.83 and a 52-week high of $28.15. The firm has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid 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 dividend yield of 6.55%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 196.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" 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 objective for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.86.

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.