National Bank of Canada FI Sells 24,900 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

National Bank of Canada FI cut its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,064 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 24,900 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $53,676,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 263.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $40,744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465,148 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 62.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,752,326 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $75,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449,210 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,715,809 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $765,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 32.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 709,736 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.63.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.89. The company had a trading volume of 5,794,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,360,795. The company has a market capitalization of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.36. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.25 and a 1-year high of $26.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.37.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is 196.92%.

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.