Hsbc Holdings PLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Hsbc Holdings PLC lowered its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,119,809 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 27,796 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $26,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 277.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BEN shares. Barclays set a $31.00 price objective on Franklin Resources and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Evercore restated an “underperform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.67.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.0%

Franklin Resources stock opened at $34.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 26.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $34.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.58 and a 200 day moving average of $27.61.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 100.76%.

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.