Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Position Increased by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,984 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,047 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,652 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,129 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 22,082 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,020 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 88,195 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,971,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on BEN. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.00.

Insider Activity

In other Franklin Resources news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $22.80 per share, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 88,703,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,022,432,777.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Franklin Resources news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $22.80 per share, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 88,703,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,022,432,777.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,890,529.28. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 431,600 shares of company stock worth $9,097,637. 24.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $19.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.37, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.72. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.94 and a 52-week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.23%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 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.