Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 35.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 784,730 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 430,682 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $15,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 11.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,889,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,008,853,000 after purchasing an additional 3,592,943 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 10.5% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,095,390 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $158,582,000 after acquiring an additional 676,760 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,183,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $71,171,000 after acquiring an additional 54,063 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 250.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $54,664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 22.9% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,213,663 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,605,000 after acquiring an additional 411,931 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BEN. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $21.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.56 and a 200-day moving average of $21.77. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.94 and a 12-month high of $30.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.38.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.77%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.19%.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.08 per share, with a total value of $1,908,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 89,308,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. The trade was a 0.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson bought 12,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.66 per share, with a total value of $249,682.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,637,700 shares in the company, valued at $51,857,182. This trade represents a 0.48 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares valued at $1,051,375. Corporate insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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.