Grassi Investment Management Trims Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Grassi Investment Management lessened its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,835 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BEN. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 5.7% in the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 86,202 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,056,000 after acquiring an additional 4,626 shares during the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 39,697 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724 shares during the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $204,000. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $237,000. Finally, PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BEN shares. Zacks Research cut Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, June 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $24.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $23.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.45. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $26.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 250.98%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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.