SG Americas Securities LLC Decreases Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 87.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 32,077 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 233,155 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson purchased 18,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.95 per share, for a total transaction of $395,955.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 216,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,544,055. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson bought 12,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.66 per share, for a total transaction of $249,682.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,637,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,857,182. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson bought 18,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.95 per share, with a total value of $395,955.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 216,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,055. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group dropped 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 report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.33.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $20.13 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.61. The company has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.71.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 70.86%.

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.