Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Sold by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,200 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 19,684 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,247,000 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. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,751 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 10,471 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.5% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 102,708 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,376,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,343 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.5% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.56.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.2%

BEN stock opened at $32.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.06 and a 52 week high of $32.24.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Company 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.