RK Asset Management LLC Sells 2,139 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

RK Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,533 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 2,139 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources makes up about 2.6% of RK Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. RK Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $3,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $432,730,000 after acquiring an additional 599,045 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $147,312,000 after buying an additional 422,688 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,095,390 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $158,582,000 after acquiring an additional 676,760 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 1.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,183,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $71,171,000 after acquiring an additional 54,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $60,421,000 after acquiring an additional 925,590 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total transaction of $336,142.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 65,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,341.80. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:BEN traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.41. 2,949,680 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,949,590. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.94 and a fifty-two week high of $29.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 148.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.66.

Franklin Resources 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.