Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $6.76 Million Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 14.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 292,337 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 51,045 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Franklin Resources worth $6,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,677,417 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $206,956,000 after acquiring an additional 97,708 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.5% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,236,553 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $77,192,000 after purchasing an additional 80,146 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth $76,051,000. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,904,475 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $69,272,000 after buying an additional 175,597 shares during the period. Finally, Kopernik Global Investors LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 2,843,849 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $67,826,000 after buying an additional 407,867 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $24.64.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $26.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.57 billion, a PE ratio of 28.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $26.25.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 30th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 145.05%.

About Franklin Resources

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.