151,433 Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Sold by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 25.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 442,294 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 151,433 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $14,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BEN. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at $152,692,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 188.2% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Kopernik Global Investors LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 3,522,587 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $83,204,000 after buying an additional 153,422 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $31.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.60. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $36.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.54.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%. Franklin Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BEN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on Franklin Resources in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.11.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton brand, is a global investment management organization. The company provides investment solutions for individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and retirement-plan participants through a range of actively managed and specialized strategies.

Its products and services include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and alternative investment strategies. Franklin Templeton offers capabilities spanning equities, fixed income, multi-asset investing, private markets and other specialized areas, with investment teams and brands serving different market segments and regions.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.