AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC Sells 8,146 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 80,656 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 8,146 shares during the period. AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 59,559 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,208,000 after buying an additional 6,364 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth $231,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 128,143 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,600,000 after purchasing an additional 29,472 shares during the last quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 128,495 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,607,000 after purchasing an additional 5,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 99.2% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 5,445 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $19.87 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.24 and a 200 day moving average of $20.70. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.83 and a 1 year high of $28.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 196.93%.

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.