Rhumbline Advisers Sells 44,759 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 6.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 634,908 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 44,759 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.12% of Franklin Resources worth $15,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 55.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 32,101 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $766,000 after buying an additional 11,432 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 102,089 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,965,000 after acquiring an additional 13,578 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 847,679 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $16,318,000 after purchasing an additional 91,958 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $271,000. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 59.4% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 208,092 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $3,976,000 after purchasing an additional 77,557 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $23.91.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $22.60 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.75 and its 200 day moving average is $23.51. The stock has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.49. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.25 and a 1-year high of $26.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal 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.