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

Delta Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,740 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 1,876 shares during the quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,622 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 290,588 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $8,657,000 after purchasing an additional 2,338 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $119,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 54,011 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,609,000 after purchasing an additional 15,712 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,491,598 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $44,435,000 after purchasing an additional 144,843 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.4 %

BEN traded down $0.10 on Friday, reaching $24.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,535,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,588,434. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $13.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.88 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 12.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 65.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

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.