Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 23,580 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,669 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 23,580 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 245,148 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $4,940,000 after acquiring an additional 54,765 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 36,289 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 9,111 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 27.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 39,678 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $800,000 after acquiring an additional 8,468 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 130,424 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,628,000 after acquiring an additional 44,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Franklin Resources by 6.7% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 53,951 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $19.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.65, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $18.74 and a one year high of $28.08.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.64%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 196.92%.

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.