Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Stake Lowered by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,130 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 2,178 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,191 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $2,763,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,622 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 290,588 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $8,657,000 after purchasing an additional 2,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $119,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BEN. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of BEN opened at $23.48 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.88 and a 52 week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The business’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources 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.