Capital Investment Counsel Inc Has $331,000 Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc lowered its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,294 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 2,400 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BEN. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 69,585 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 16,721 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 30.2% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,604 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.2% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,485 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,677 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on BEN. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $20.76 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.76. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $18.83 and a one year high of $28.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.93, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.42.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 196.93%.

About Franklin Resources

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.