Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Stock Dropped to “Hold” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on BEN. Barclays restated a “mixed” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.89.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 2.1%

Franklin Resources stock opened at $31.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.20. Franklin Resources has a 12 month low of $21.10 and a 12 month high of $36.28.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 89.80%.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BEN. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth about $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth about $152,692,000. Kopernik Global Investors LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 4.6% during the first quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 3,522,587 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $83,204,000 after purchasing an additional 153,422 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 37.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,964,424 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $46,400,000 after purchasing an additional 533,192 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton name, is a global investment management organization headquartered in San Mateo, California. The company provides investment solutions to individuals, financial professionals, institutions, and other clients worldwide.

Its products and services include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional portfolios, and alternative investment strategies. Through its investment teams and specialist affiliates, Franklin Templeton offers capabilities across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, private markets, real assets, and other areas of asset management.

Franklin Resources was founded in 1947 by Rupert H.