Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Price Target to $20.50

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its price target cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $22.50 to $20.50 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the closed-end fund’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.55.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN opened at $19.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Franklin Resources has a 52-week low of $18.83 and a 52-week high of $28.61.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.59%. This is an increase from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 148.84%.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In related news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total value of $345,309.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,596,245.49. The trade was a 17.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BEN. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 250.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $54,664,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751,587 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 263.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $40,744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465,148 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 517.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,406,324 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $31,431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,594 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $60,421,000 after purchasing an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 110.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,236 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,279,000 after purchasing an additional 851,442 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

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.