Verus Capital Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Verus Capital Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,998 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 2,900 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 124.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,068 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 15,001 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 1,928.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 79,469 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 75,552 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 46.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 51,632 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,073,000 after buying an additional 16,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Franklin Resources by 27.7% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 72,275 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after buying an additional 15,688 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of BEN opened at $20.29 on Friday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.83 and a 52-week high of $28.61. The stock has a market cap of $10.66 billion, a PE ratio of 31.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.31%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 196.93%.

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.