SVB Wealth LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

SVB Wealth LLC cut its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 14.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,987 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 18,861 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $3,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,392 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 452 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 $34.64 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.32. 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 $17.60 billion, a PE ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.54.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

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 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Company 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.