AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC Sells 8,146 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 80,656 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 8,146 shares during the quarter. AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 254.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 561.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,661 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 124.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,068 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on BEN shares. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of BEN opened at $19.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.83 and a 12-month high of $28.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

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

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.44%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 196.93%.

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.