Paradigm Financial Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Paradigm Financial Partners LLC cut its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 27,596 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 2,110 shares during the period. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,750,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $43,034,000 after buying an additional 1,015,225 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,684,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,563,774 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $161,338,000 after acquiring an additional 415,512 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,188,199 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $35,396,000 after purchasing an additional 414,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 383.1% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 502,840 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $12,360,000 after purchasing an additional 398,745 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.50.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN stock opened at $24.99 on Monday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $21.88 and a one year high of $30.32. The firm has a market cap of $13.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.37.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 11.15%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.96%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.26%.

About Franklin Resources

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.