Strs Ohio Has $2.16 Million Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Strs Ohio trimmed its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 47.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,349 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 84,259 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 3,869.2% during the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,032 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 177.1% during the second quarter. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. now owns 1,283 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 5,180.0% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 2,112 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 2,072 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BEN. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $24.64.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN stock opened at $25.50 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $13.29 billion, a PE ratio of 28.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50 day moving average of $24.00 and a 200-day moving average of $23.99. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $26.25.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.12% and a net margin of 5.98%.Franklin Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 30th were issued a $0.33 dividend. This is an increase from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 30th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 145.05%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.