Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on BEN. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of BEN stock traded up $0.03 on Wednesday, hitting $21.56. 286,765 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,043,566. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.95. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.71.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 5.48%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Franklin Resources news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson acquired 18,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.95 per share, with a total value of $395,955.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 216,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,544,055. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson acquired 18,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.95 per share, for a total transaction of $395,955.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 216,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,544,055. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.84 per share, for a total transaction of $1,984,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,890,529.28. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders acquired 231,600 shares of company stock worth $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares worth $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Power Corp of Canada raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 18,266.0% in the 1st quarter. Power Corp of Canada now owns 31,557,117 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $887,071,000 after acquiring an additional 31,385,293 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 11.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,889,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,008,853,000 after purchasing an additional 3,592,943 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 250.7% during 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. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 517.5% during 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 buying an additional 1,178,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 110.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,236 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,279,000 after buying an additional 851,442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

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.