Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Has $25.31 Million Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 849,583 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 5,104 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.17% of Franklin Resources worth $25,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,072,606 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $951,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390,583 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 0.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,693,626 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $242,726,000 after purchasing an additional 80,446 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 6.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,563,774 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $161,338,000 after purchasing an additional 415,512 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 7.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,833,431 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $134,950,000 after purchasing an additional 345,868 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,052,116 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $106,895,000 after purchasing an additional 291,042 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BEN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.50.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of BEN stock opened at $25.15 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $13.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.32. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.88 and a 1 year high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 11.15%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.93%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.26%.

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.