KBC Group NV Has $2.99 Million Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

KBC Group NV cut its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 148,298 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 196,063 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 65.2% in the third quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 31,898 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $643,000 after acquiring an additional 12,592 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Franklin Resources by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 806,901 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $16,259,000 after purchasing an additional 11,371 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 21,675 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 21.9% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 51,500 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,038,000 after buying an additional 9,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.9% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 100,834 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,032,000 after buying an additional 6,524 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group cut their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $21.67 on Monday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $30.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.79. The firm has a market cap of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.63.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.72%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 144.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $336,142.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 65,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,341.80. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson acquired 12,700 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 represents a 0.48 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares valued at $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.