Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Major Shareholder Charles B. Johnson Buys 200,000 Shares of Stock

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $22.80 per share, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 88,703,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,022,432,777.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN opened at $23.17 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $23.56 and its 200-day moving average is $26.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.57 and a 12-month high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 11.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 70.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BEN shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $25.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.6% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 560,553 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $13,789,000 after buying an additional 34,758 shares during the period. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 12.4% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 39,469 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $970,000 after buying an additional 4,342 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,053,751 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $75,061,000 after buying an additional 202,288 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.6% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 31,681 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 2,248 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.6% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,064 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Company 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.