Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Trims Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,695 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 1,477 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BEN. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 43,687 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 69,585 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. Hardy Reed LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 30.2% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,604 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.3 %

Franklin Resources stock opened at $20.01 on Wednesday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.83 and a 12 month high of $28.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.79, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.40%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 196.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BEN. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.86.

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.