Metis Global Partners LLC Cuts Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Metis Global Partners LLC lowered its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,852 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 616 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 34,997 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 2,430 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 15,646 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 3,973 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 491,815 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $9,910,000 after acquiring an additional 40,800 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 315.2% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 540,465 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $10,890,000 after acquiring an additional 410,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 110,394 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 6,279 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $20.14 on Thursday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.83 and a 52-week high of $28.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $20.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 196.92%.

Franklin Resources 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.