Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Sold by Gamco Investors INC. ET AL

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL cut its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 122,083 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 18,200 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BEN. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 26.2% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 148,049 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,850,000 after purchasing an additional 30,763 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 169.3% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,909 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 4,972 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 41.1% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,189 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 7,634 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at $169,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 52.2% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 509,171 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $12,144,000 after buying an additional 174,579 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE:BEN opened at $31.22 on Thursday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $21.06 and a one year high of $32.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $16.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.83, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $26.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.44.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.56.

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.