Covestor Ltd Has $98,000 Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Covestor Ltd reduced its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 40.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,104 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 3,491 shares during the quarter. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $98,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 147.1% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 350.4% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 49.9% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $25.29 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $13.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.46. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $25.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.28.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 250.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BEN. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $14.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.42.

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.