Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $34.88 Million Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,048,237 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 198,739 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $34,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,882,860 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $259,988,000 after buying an additional 816,952 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,122,937 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $241,837,000 after acquiring an additional 768,707 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,495 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $192,774,000 after acquiring an additional 272,335 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,083,168 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $169,217,000 after acquiring an additional 243,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP grew its position in Franklin Resources by 78.8% during the 4th quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 5,796,575 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $138,480,000 after acquiring an additional 2,554,105 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BEN. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Evercore restated an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of BEN stock opened at $33.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.10 and a 12-month high of $36.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.11 and a 200-day moving average of $29.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%.The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

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.