GAMMA Investing LLC Sells 878 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

GAMMA Investing LLC reduced its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,834 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 878 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Franklin Resources in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,890,529.28. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Franklin Resources news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson bought 12,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.66 per share, for a total transaction of $249,682.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,637,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,857,182. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,769,890,529.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $20.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.94 and a twelve month high of $30.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.17%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.07%.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries.