Insider Selling: Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Insider Sells 7,900 Shares of Stock

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total value of $345,309.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,596,245.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Franklin Resources Inc also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, October 16th, Franklin Resources Inc sold 8,467 shares of Franklin Resources stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.69, for a total value of $369,923.23.
• On Monday, October 14th, Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of Franklin Resources stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total transaction of $336,142.30.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.5 %

BEN opened at $20.98 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.41. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $30.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note 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 on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.73.

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.