International Assets Investment Management LLC Purchases New Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,917 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $88,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 173.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 73,313 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after buying an additional 46,469 shares during the period. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth about $1,930,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 45.3% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 85,703 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 26,735 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 13.7% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 8,300 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 47.4% in the second quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 92,869 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,076,000 after acquiring an additional 29,878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson purchased 12,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.66 per share, for a total transaction of $249,682.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,637,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,857,182. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Franklin Resources news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson acquired 12,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.66 per share, for a total transaction of $249,682.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,637,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,857,182. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.80 per share, with a total value of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 88,703,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,022,432,777.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 331,600 shares of company stock worth $7,189,637. Insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.45.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $20.18 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $22.12 and a 200-day moving average of $24.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.43. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.50 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.14%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.86%.

About Franklin Resources

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.