Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) PT Lowered to $19.00 at Evercore ISI

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at Evercore ISI from $20.00 to $19.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underperform” rating on the closed-end fund’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price points to a potential downside of 4.14% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on BEN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group lowered 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.77.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of BEN stock opened at $19.82 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71. Franklin Resources has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.39.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.60%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson purchased 12,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, 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 is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson bought 12,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.66 per share, for a total transaction of $249,682.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,637,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,857,182. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 231,600 shares of company stock worth $4,537,637 over the last 90 days. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.