Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 53.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 314,797 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 367,756 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Franklin Resources worth $7,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,751 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 10,471 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,392 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 39.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Barclays set a $31.00 price target on Franklin Resources and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $31.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.31 billion, a PE ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.10 and a 1-year high of $32.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.76%.

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.