Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 45,735 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lowered its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 67.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,049 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 45,735 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $880,000. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,857,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,192 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $7,681,000 after buying an additional 32,490 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 925,590 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in Franklin Resources by 78.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 62,076 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 27,259 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.55.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $19.41. 4,294,073 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,178,059. The business has a 50-day moving average of $21.28 and a 200 day moving average of $21.23. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.41. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $18.83 and a one year high of $28.61.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This is an increase from Franklin Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is 148.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 8,467 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 51,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,229,020.11. This trade represents a 14.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 22.90% 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.