Vest Financial LLC Sells 686,345 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Vest Financial LLC reduced its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,218,130 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 686,345 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $51,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.1% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,677,417 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $206,956,000 after purchasing an additional 97,708 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,236,553 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $77,192,000 after buying an additional 80,146 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth $76,051,000. Kopernik Global Investors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 16.7% during the second quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 2,843,849 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $67,826,000 after buying an additional 407,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at about $60,618,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BEN has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $24.64.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $25.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $13.15 billion, a PE ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.25 and a fifty-two week high of $26.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $23.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.96.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.12% and a net margin of 5.98%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. This is a boost from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 145.05%.

Franklin Resources Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.