Voloridge Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,143,463 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 431,354 shares during the quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned about 0.60% of Franklin Resources worth $63,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 147.1% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 350.4% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 981 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 561.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,661 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Cowen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $22.16 on Wednesday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $16.25 and a one year high of $24.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.33 and a 200 day moving average of $20.26. The company has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.09, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Company 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.