Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 56.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,706,890 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 2,183,041 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.33% of Franklin Resources worth $34,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 128,495 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $2,607,000 after acquiring an additional 5,529 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 99.2% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 5,445 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 24,383 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 7,192 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $302,000. Finally, Hardy Reed LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 16,721 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.
Shares of Franklin Resources stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.33. The stock had a trading volume of 3,823,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,267,458. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.83 and a fifty-two week high of $28.61. The firm has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.60.
Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.30%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is 196.92%.
A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.86.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on BEN
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.
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