Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $281,000 Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lessened its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,438 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 774 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $281,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth $25,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 975.5% in the third quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,140 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Finally, First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 1.7 %

BEN opened at $27.62 on Tuesday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.88 and a 1-year high of $30.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $14.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.18.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 11.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.05.

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.