Truist Financial Corp Sells 4,030 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Truist Financial Corp lessened its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,563 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 4,030 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.33.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $20.13 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $20.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.61. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $30.32. The firm has a market cap of $10.59 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.16%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.86%.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In related news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson acquired 12,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.66 per share, for a total transaction of $249,682.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,637,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,857,182. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson bought 12,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.66 per share, for a total transaction of $249,682.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,637,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,857,182. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.08 per share, with a total value of $1,908,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 89,308,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637 over the last 90 days. 24.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.