Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 18,340 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC decreased its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 500,897 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 18,340 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $11,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 277.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 129.1% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $34.05 on Friday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $34.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. The company has a market capitalization of $17.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.54.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The business’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 100.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays set a $31.00 price objective on Franklin Resources and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, June 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.67.

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.