Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Sold by Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI trimmed its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 41.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 214,027 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 150,908 shares during the period. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $4,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 104.1% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 18,129 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 9,245 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in Franklin Resources by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,652 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,347,000. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 52,802 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,484,000 after buying an additional 3,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.73.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.84 per share, for a total transaction of $1,984,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,769,890,529.28. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total transaction of $345,309.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,596,245.49. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,769,890,529.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 231,600 shares of company stock worth $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares worth $1,051,375. Insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of BEN opened at $20.98 on Friday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.45. The stock has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 10.24%. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.91%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.86%.

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.