2,050 Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Bought by Northwest Investment Counselors LLC

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,050 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BEN. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BEN shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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 note on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In related news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.08 per share, with a total value of $1,908,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total value of $345,309.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,519 shares in the company, valued at $1,596,245.49. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares valued at $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE BEN opened at $20.38 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.94 and a 52-week high of $30.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $20.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.09%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.