California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 566,045 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 19,551 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.11% of Franklin Resources worth $13,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $98,168,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $98,703,000 after buying an additional 2,697,743 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 78.8% during the fourth quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 5,796,575 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $138,480,000 after purchasing an additional 2,554,105 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter worth about $51,384,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 125.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,737,050 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $89,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,078,369 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $32.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $32.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $34.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.88 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.54.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Zacks Research raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

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.