Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Sells 8,335 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lessened its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 188,527 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 8,335 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $3,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BEN. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.5% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 34,997 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $705,000 after buying an additional 2,430 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in Franklin Resources by 34.0% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 15,646 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 3,973 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 9.0% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 491,815 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $9,910,000 after purchasing an additional 40,800 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 315.2% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 540,465 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $10,890,000 after purchasing an additional 410,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 6.0% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 110,394 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,224,000 after purchasing an additional 6,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $20.14 on Thursday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.83 and a 52-week high of $28.61. The stock has a market cap of $10.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.98, 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $20.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.63.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders 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 yield of 6.36%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 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.