Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Sold by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,266 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 6,840 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 50.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after buying an additional 32,904 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,183,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $71,171,000 after purchasing an additional 54,063 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.5% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 83,401 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 2,059 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 57.1% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 870,318 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $19,432,000 after buying an additional 316,211 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 158.8% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 40,765 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 25,014 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of BEN stock opened at $19.56 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.15. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $18.83 and a one year high of $28.61.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.55%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BEN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.18.

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.