Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Sold by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC cut its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 37.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,861 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 24,784 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,000,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sovran Advisors LLC lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 35,234 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 9,481 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 13,656 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 2,463 shares during the period. Tema Etfs LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $124,000. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 20,475 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,106 shares during the period. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $219,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.6%

BEN opened at $25.02 on Friday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.17 and a fifty-two week high of $28.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 1.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.44.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.15. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 122.22%.

Franklin Resources Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.