Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 68.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,369 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 24,396 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,095,390 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $158,582,000 after acquiring an additional 676,760 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 1.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,183,950 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $71,171,000 after purchasing an additional 54,063 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 250.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $54,664,000 after buying an additional 1,751,587 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,213,663 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $44,605,000 after buying an additional 411,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 110.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,236 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $36,279,000 after buying an additional 851,442 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BEN shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "underperform" rating and set a $19.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Franklin Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.20.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Franklin Resources

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 8,467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.69, for a total value of $369,923.23. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 51,019 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,229,020.11. This trade represents a 14.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,704,000,303.36. This trade represents a 0.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,024 shares of company stock worth $1,051,375. Insiders own 24.13% of the company's stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $22.41 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $21.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.67. The company has a market capitalization of $11.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This is a positive change from Franklin Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.71%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.19%.

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.

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