Wellington Management Group LLP Lowers Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 47.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,593 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 52,989 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth about $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $152,692,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $98,168,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 188.2% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $98,703,000 after purchasing an additional 2,697,743 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $33.72 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $36.28. The company has a market cap of $17.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.54.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Franklin Resources Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton name, is a global investment management organization. The company provides investment solutions for individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and retirement plans through a broad range of strategies and investment vehicles.

Its offerings include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton manages strategies across equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios, alternatives and other specialized areas, while also providing investment research, portfolio management and wealth-management services.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.