Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC Sells 865 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC reduced its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,883 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 865 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 109,006 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,380 shares during the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 20,216 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 5,473 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,403,875 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $190,805,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,478 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 269.4% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 97,001 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 70,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $93,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE:BEN opened at $22.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.26. The company has a market cap of $11.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $24.37.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. Franklin Resources’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.25.

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.