Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN – Free Report) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 535,260 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,445 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $10,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 94.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 62,492 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,268,000 after acquiring an additional 30,415 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 18,457 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 7,337 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $345,000. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 36,306 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $737,000 after acquiring an additional 3,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 12,611 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
BEN has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.50 to $20.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.18.
Franklin Resources Stock Performance
NYSE:BEN opened at $20.08 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.83 and a fifty-two week high of $28.61.
Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.
Franklin Resources Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.37%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.84%.
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.
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