Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,994 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $101,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BEN. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BEN. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $21.53 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.95. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.94 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32. The firm has a market cap of $11.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.38.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its 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). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 5.48%. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.76%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.19%.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In other Franklin Resources news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,769,890,529.28. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 89,208,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,769,890,529.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson purchased 18,900 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.95 per share, for a total transaction of $395,955.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 216,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,055. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 231,600 shares of company stock worth $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares worth $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.