New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 141,026 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 15,500 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $432,730,000 after buying an additional 599,045 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $147,312,000 after acquiring an additional 422,688 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% during the third 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 last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 32.1% during the fourth 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Franklin Resources by 263.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $40,744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465,148 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BEN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Franklin Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE:BEN traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $19.84. The stock had a trading volume of 2,951,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,216,101. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $20.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.66. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.83 and a 52 week high of $28.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a PE ratio of 30.52, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is currently 196.92%.

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.