Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 1,663 Shares of Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Korn Ferry were worth $1,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Korn Ferry by 112.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 388 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in Korn Ferry by 149.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Korn Ferry by 26.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Korn Ferry during the 2nd quarter worth $148,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Korn Ferry by 1,083.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 2,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.82% of the company’s stock.

Korn Ferry Stock Performance

Shares of Korn Ferry stock opened at $68.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.04. Korn Ferry has a 1-year low of $54.77 and a 1-year high of $80.64.

Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The business services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21. Korn Ferry had a net margin of 9.03% and a return on equity of 14.27%. The company had revenue of $682.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $675.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Korn Ferry’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Korn Ferry will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Korn Ferry Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. Korn Ferry’s payout ratio is presently 31.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KFY. Truist Financial raised their target price on Korn Ferry from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Korn Ferry from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Korn Ferry

In related news, Director Debra J. Perry sold 5,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.30, for a total transaction of $387,024.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,384,994. This represents a 10.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Arian sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.24, for a total transaction of $1,444,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,975,096.56. This represents a 22.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 80,280 shares of company stock worth $5,832,156. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry, together with its subsidiaries, provides organizational consulting services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Consulting, Digital, Executive Search, and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) & Professional Search. The company provides executive search services to recruit board level, chief executive, other senior executive, and general management talent of organizations.