Dark Forest Capital Management LP Cuts Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 30.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 27,906 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 12,007 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter worth $880,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,485 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 30.2% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,604 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter worth approximately $352,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $118,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.96.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of BEN stock opened at $18.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.25 and a 12 month high of $25.30. The stock has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.24.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 period last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.83%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 196.92%.

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.