Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Has $30.80 Million Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lowered its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,518,144 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 12,784 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $30,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $880,000. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Franklin Resources by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 159,738 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $3,241,000 after acquiring an additional 27,169 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Franklin Resources by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $432,730,000 after acquiring an additional 599,045 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 93,789 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,903,000 after purchasing an additional 24,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 263.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $40,744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465,148 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 2.6 %

NYSE:BEN opened at $17.49 on Friday. 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 $17.19 and a one year high of $27.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.53. The company has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.36.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.32%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 196.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.54.

Franklin Resources 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.