Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Sold by West Oak Capital LLC

West Oak Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,645 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 8,295 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter worth $25,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 975.5% during the third quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,140 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on BEN. UBS Group lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.05.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN stock traded up $0.38 on Thursday, reaching $28.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 527,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,438,875. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.88 and a 52 week high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company has a market capitalization of $14.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $27.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.14.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 12.30%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.43%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 65.26%.

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.