Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on BEN. Barclays upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 2.1%

Franklin Resources stock opened at $33.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.12 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.54. Franklin Resources has a 12-month low of $21.10 and a 12-month high of $36.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $33.73 and its 200 day moving average is $30.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter worth about $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at about $152,692,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $98,168,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 188.2% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $98,703,000 after buying an additional 2,697,743 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton name, is a global investment management organization. The company provides investment solutions for individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and retirement plans through a broad range of strategies and investment vehicles.

Its offerings include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton manages strategies across equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios, alternatives and other specialized areas, while also providing investment research, portfolio management and wealth-management services.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.