Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Has $4.10 Million Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lowered its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 137,688 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 7,100 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $4,102,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 53.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in 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 period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.2% during the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 14,873 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 12.1% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 981,103 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $24,116,000 after acquiring an additional 106,129 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew 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 valued at $12,360,000 after acquiring 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 research firms have issued reports on BEN. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.39.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $24.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.88 and a 52 week high of $30.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.17 and a 200-day moving average of $26.29.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 65.26%.

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.