OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,219 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 1,448 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 38.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 97,636 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,731,000 after buying an additional 27,193 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the first quarter valued at $204,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,119 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 4,100 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 658.5% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 35,635 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 30,937 shares during the period. Finally, American International Group Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 6.1% during the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 78,486 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after buying an additional 4,540 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of BEN stock opened at $21.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.38. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.94 and a 52-week high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.77.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 144.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In related news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson bought 12,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.66 per share, for a total transaction of $249,682.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,637,700 shares in the company, valued at $51,857,182. The trade was a 0.48 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,769,890,529.28. The trade was a 0.11 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 212,700 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,682 and have sold 24,024 shares valued at $1,051,375. Insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

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.