Assetmark Inc. Buys Shares of 2,298 Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,298 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 22,082 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 108,894 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,434,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 88,195 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 26,032 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Finally, Cadence Bank raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 234,491 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $6,592,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,890,529.28. The trade was a 0.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson purchased 18,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.95 per share, with a total value of $395,955.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 216,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,544,055. This represents a 9.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, 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 insiders.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN opened at $21.80 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.52 and a 200-day moving average of $21.78. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.71.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.19%.

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.