Fmr LLC Acquires 8,468 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Fmr LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 27.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,678 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,468 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 250.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $54,664,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751,587 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 517.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,406,324 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $31,431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,594 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,421,000 after buying an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 110.3% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,236 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,279,000 after buying an additional 851,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 325.1% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 906,270 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $20,255,000 after buying an additional 693,074 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the insider now owns 36,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,596,245.49. This represents a 17.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,024 shares of company stock worth $1,051,375. Corporate insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BEN shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.66.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 2.6 %

BEN opened at $21.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.18 billion, a PE ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.94 and a twelve month high of $30.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $21.38 and a 200-day moving average of $21.57.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This is a positive change from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.00%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 148.84%.

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.