Capital Investment Counsel Inc Trims Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc lessened its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,919 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 2,900 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 148.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 65,100 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,939,000 after buying an additional 38,919 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,491,598 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $44,435,000 after buying an additional 144,843 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,188,199 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $35,396,000 after buying an additional 414,826 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 966,212 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $23,749,000 after buying an additional 110,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 14,873 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:BEN traded down $1.03 on Monday, reaching $23.96. 1,771,313 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,571,491. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.88 and a 52 week high of $30.32. The firm has a market cap of $12.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.18%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on BEN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.50.

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.